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storypaint ([personal profile] storypaint) wrote2008-03-17 01:00 pm

Anyone But You (Paulie/Juno)

Title: Anyone But You
Author: rhap_chan
Fandom: Juno (movie)
Pairing: Paulie Bleeker/Juno MacGuff
Rating: G
Word Count: 932
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Juno is not my property. This fanfic is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author or me.

Excerpt: She said she scared her mother away, her lip trembling as she tried to believe it, and Paulie didn't argue. She was the most beautiful girl in the world.

When Paulie Bleeker was four, he thought his mother was the most beautiful woman in the world, that every woman boasted such bountiful curves and harried gaze. Her hair was softer than candy floss.

When Paulie Bleeker was seven, he met Juno MacGuff. She was just like a little boy, with her hair tied back in pigtail knots and a mouth that beat everyone else in first grade, even that kid whose father was in jail. She said she scared her mother away, her lip trembling as she tried to believe it, and Paulie didn't argue. She was the most beautiful girl in the world.

"Want to hang out after school?" she asked him one day. She took him home to a dim house where her father worked on strange motors and mumbled curse words under his breath. He showed Paulie how to take the screws out of the toaster so it fell apart.

The next day Paulie took Juno home. His mother was at first thrilled to meet his little girlfriend, but then quite displeased when she proceeded to rattle off her father's military-flavored cussing like she'd been doing it all of her short life. She took the toaster apart and cleaned the crumb tray, but it was never quite the same again. (He took to microwaving, after that.) She broke a small knickknack and talked Paulie into a race, which she won easily. Those days, he was always chasing after her, couldn't catch up.

Paulie listened to his mother talk on the phone to the neighbor, saying things like Problem Child and Abandoned by Mother. She didn't forbid him from bringing Juno home, but she was never quite happy when he did.

And Paulie chased after Juno. He was never as clever, never as swift, never as interesting, but sometimes she taught him things. Sometimes she threw him a bone. And they grew up.

When Paulie turned thirteen, everything changed. For a while, he was speaking a totally different language than she was. She caught on quickly, though, and their friendship went on, though with the addition of breasts. He took up cross-country and she watched him run. She never chased him.

He tucked the yearbook under his pillow, waking in the morning with the corners creased across his face. He put on his golden shorts, microwaved a breakfast pastry, went out running. The same time every day. The same thing. Paulie Bleeker would be quite boring, he sometimes reflected, if Juno wasn't in his life.

And then it happened. (They never could agree on who prompted the whole thing, and eventually they gave up trying. It was better that way.)

"Did you hear about that Juno MacGuff?" Paulie's mother said at dinner, looking pointedly across the table at her son, and then at her husband. Paulie's father grunted. His wife was always on a vendetta about something or someone. As long as she left him alone, he didn't care.

"Pregnant! And only sixteen! It's a travesty, I swear. That girl was screwed up when her mother left her, that poor child. And now she's having one of her own! I hope you pay attention to this, Paul. This is why I don't want you hanging out with her. She's a bad influence. Does she even know what she's doing?"

Usually his mother hated being interrupted, but Paulie made an exception. "Adoption," he said, staring into his milk glass. "She found a couple in the Penny Saver."

"The Penny Saver?" Paulie's mother said, taken aback a moment, but then she continued. "Well, good for the child. She probably doesn't even know who the father is."

"Do you?" Paulie's father asked, looking up from his paper at his son. Paulie concentrated hard for a moment and didn't choke on his dinner.

"Yeah," he said hesitantly. "A... guy from school."

"That could have been you!" Paulie's mother said, shaking her finger at her son. "You see what I told you: that Juno is a bad influence."

Paulie wondered how he ever could have thought his mother was pretty. She looked like a hobbit.

*

Juno wore a sweatshirt that said I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS the day she became Juno Bleeker. She sung her vows. Paulie had traded his golden shorts for a nice pair of dress pants, and a guitar. He sung back to her. Paulie's mother sat on the edge of the park bench, burying her perfectly white shoes in the mud. Vanessa sat on the opposite side, Christopher dressed like a little preacher, but also trailing his shoes in the mud.

When Paulie and Juno walked out of the gazebo, past his mother, Paulie leaned down and said, "I got her pregnant. Before." Juno grinned. Paulie's mother gasped, somehow more scandalized by this fact than by this ridiculous wedding.

"He's good in a chair," Juno said, winking. "But we're branching out tonight. I hear a bed is even better."

She took his hand and swung it easily as they walked through the crowd standing there with them. Somehow Juno had gotten a smudge of mud on her cheek and Paulie wiped it off, marveling at the sudden newness of the gesture. She adjusted her skirt with her free hand and smiled, resting her hand for a moment on her (currently) empty belly.

She was the most beautiful woman Paulie Bleeker had ever seen.

[identity profile] pnksktchr.livejournal.com 2008-03-27 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my god, that's SO cute!

Love the story!!

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-03-28 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! ^____^

[identity profile] wiccababe21.livejournal.com 2008-03-28 10:31 am (UTC)(link)
"He's good in a chair," Juno said, winking. "But we're branching out tonight. I hear a bed is even better."

Sooo Juno. Excellentay my friend

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-03-28 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh thank you! ^_^

[identity profile] wiccababe21.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
Thats okay. It true anywho

[identity profile] franlock.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
So cute! I really enjoyed it.

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it! ^_^

[identity profile] jacedesbff.livejournal.com 2008-04-21 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Awwwww!!! I just watched Juno for the first time on Friday (and have watched it all the way through again and as many highlights as my insane life will allow), and this was just perfect! :-) Favoriting!

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-04-22 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you very much! ^__^

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
This...all I can think is 'wheeeeee!' I'm adding this to my memories! I love the little tidbits you threw in about their childhoods. When you mentioned that Paulie had turned thirteen, I thought you might mention he's Jewish. There's a banner of the Hebrew alphabet on the back of his door and, I believe -- though I haven't zoomed in closely enough on my DVD to see -- certificates for either his Bar Mitzvah or his Confirmation (if he's Reform) on his bedroom wall. But I love the images you painted of them as little kids. I wonder when they met Leah...

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much for your feedback! You know, the first few times I watched the movie I didn't catch that scene with the Hebrew alphabet, but I did the last time, and I thought that was pretty interesting and should probably be ficced someday. Thanks again for commenting!

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Would you do it? I'd totally...hey, I write about House being Jewish every time I write Housefic. I should probably write a oner about it...

Or maybe we could each write our own perspective of the same event, like with [livejournal.com profile] remix_redux. Care to duel?

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
lol, sounds fun. I'll have to do some research on Judaism first, though. ^_^

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, I'll be happy when I get my account renewed in a couple of days, but I was looking through your tags so I could link back to them and I found that we have MUCH in common. Friend and befriended? I'd love to read more of your stuff and love it even if you read mine, as well.

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm incredibly flattered! This is my fic journal though, so you know, no real life/fandomy things here.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Friend and befriend both? *shrugs* I post links to all my fanfiction in my journal as well as the relevant communities, but it's all in public posts at the moment.

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-05-12 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, you seem cool! (This is my personal journal btw.)

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-05-12 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sort of a passive House fan right now, though... I'm not good at keeping up with the episodes so I only fic once in a blue moon.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I've seen all but two episodes. I have them on DVD, but I've decided to start back at the beginning again because of the writer's strike and because the writers have been monkeying around even more than usual this season and it's starting to get really annoying. I'm told they're going to make up for the entire debacle...TONIGHT. Shit, I have an hour and twelve minutes until it comes on. The damned strike put my internal House-clock completely off-kilter. I nearly missed the episode for the second week running.

Thank snark for DVR, though. In the meantime, even as a passive fan, I'd be much obliged if you read any of my material for any of my fandoms.

[identity profile] storypaint.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, this season has been nuts (what I've seen of it). I haet Amber most passionately. I hoped she'd thrown Wilson out over the bed thing last week, lol.

Seriously, what's with this random moving to Monday thing? I'm hardly ever home as it is!

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
*laughs incoherently* The enemy of my friend (House, totally) means Cutthroat Bitch is mine enemy. Honestly, she makes me adore Wilson. That rat bastard. I...there are no words. And did you see my icon?

I'd especially love your views on my [livejournal.com profile] get_house_laid fics, which are tagged within the community under my name and the pairings, etc., that I signed up for. They don't take place at any particular point in canon (except for 'Salacious Removal', but that's only as a reference point) and have been either House/Cuddy or House/Cuddy/Wilson.

And...well, right now, I'm writing my own take on the 'House is Chase's biological father' plot bunny that bit me while I was over in [livejournal.com profile] chase_fest. Apparently, it's been done before, but not the way I have. I'm flattered, I must say. It takes place after season three, but only because of Chase getting fired being the catalyst.

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-05-13 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Just a skim through "Salacious Removal" and I can see you have impeccable characterization-- I don't read much of House/Wilson/Cuddy but I think you hit their personalities straight on the head, absolutely lovely. The only bad comment I'd say is that I think the song lyrics actually sort of distracted from the story, but that could just be me and my hatred of songfic-like things.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-13 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
I use them as page breaks. It works because the Pit of Voles tends to take them right out if you leave them as asterisks and while I've been a member for a very long time, there's only so much of their idiotic rules they keep implementing that I'll cater to.

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, though. I wouldn't let myself go back and read what I'd written until it was finished and then I had [livejournal.com profile] alex51324 go over it and, apparently, I did far better than I thought. I was half-asleep while writing it thanks to allergy meds. I was thoroughly surprised it was so well-received.

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-05-13 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, that makes sense-- it's a pretty good idea, too! It's been ages since I've posted anything to ff.n due to their weird formatting rules.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-13 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
I realized about a month ago that I had more new material here than at the Pit and decided I might as well share. Considering the (sadly expected) lack of feedback over there, in ratio to author alerts/story alerts, I may have been better off not doing so.

I don't know when someone decided that alerts were the equivalent of reviews, but I'd personally like to kick them very, very hard. I've given up (well, almost) going back to their profiles and asking what they think because, hey, I'm curious. I thought reviews were just...you know, what you did when you read a story there, but apparently, I'm old-fashioned like that, wanting feedback and all...

[personal profile] pleonasm 2008-05-14 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Eh, I'm one of the offenders... at least until the story is over, I don't usually leave a review. I'm terrible about it. But I rarely read over at the Pit anyway.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-14 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
Right. Okay. Sure. Forgiven. TELL ME YOU WATCHED HOUSE LAST NIGHT.

[identity profile] angelfirenze.livejournal.com 2008-05-14 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
*screams and reads*