Chapter One: Montague-Capulet Bonding Time or Something

"Tybalt! Tybalt, wait up!"

The Capulet turned around from his daily walk around Verona. Tybalt was a tall, thin man with black hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his head. He was dressed in a black, leather jacket over a red t-shirt and dark jeans. He was pretty angsty, aggressive, and undoubtedly rude to anyone who hadn't pledged their lives to the Capulets. The only one who could find any redeeming qualities was Juliet and sometimes she had trouble. Benvolio, a blonde Montague and doormat in a denim jacket, white button down, and faded gray slacks, was running toward Tybalt. Tybalt's first instinct was to grab his knife, but his hand stopped just above his pocket for multiple reasons. A) The mayor had threatened to imprison the next person who started a brawl. B) Juliet had called a ceasefire between the families; since no one wanted to see either Romeo or Juliet get hurt, the Montagues and Capulets had come to a grudging truce.

"You walk fast!" Benvolio exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips and breathing hard.

"If you don't have a reason to talk to me, leave me alone," Tybalt said through clenched teeth.

"Well luckily for you, I do have a reason to talk to you! I think we should become friends!" Benvolio said, beaming..

"No. A ceasefire was hard enough. Friends is impossible." After delivering his ultimatum, Tybalt turned heel and walked away as fast as he could. Footsteps followed his immediately as Benvolio ran to catch up.

"Come on! You don't even know me! How can you say we can't be friends?" Benvolio pressed, falling into step with the Capulet.

"I know enough to know that we can't get along. We're too different," Tybalt said plainly, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets.

"How are we too different?" Benvolio scoffed, leaning forward.

"Have you met me, Montague? I would eat you and yours for breakfast if I could. I hate all Montagues the same way I hate Hell. But you, you want to work past this age old prejudice. That's why," Capulet explained.

Benvolio frowned. "That's exactly why we need to be friends. I'm kind of the exception as far as not hating all the Capulets. Romeo loves Juliet but is kind of eh on the rest of you and Aunt and Uncle don't even like Juliet at the very least. So we have to show them that we can get along!"

"Isn't that what Romeo and Juliet are doing?" Tybalt asked with a sigh.

"Not really. Romeo and Juliet fell in love before they knew each other's identity, but you and I are fully aware of each other's identities," Benvolio explained. He leaned around and gave Tybalt huge puppy-eyes. "Pleeeeeeeease? Can we just try?" Benvolio pleaded.

Tybalt narrowed his green eyes and crossed his arms. "Say whatever you want, I'm never going to be-"

"TYBALT?! Are you hanging out with Benvolio?"

Tybalt swore under his breath and turned around. Juliet was standing behind him, looking surprised and delighted. Romeo was standing behind her, giving Tybalt the hairy eyeball and trying to appear manly. Juliet, a mass of chocolate hair and red silk, threw her arms around her beloved cousin's shoulder. "Aw, Tybalt! I'm so happy you're trying to be friendly with the Montagues for me! You have to tell me ALL ABOUT IT when you get home!" She gushed, kissing Tybalt's face exuberantly. She nuzzled his cheek and let out a string of unintelligible praise.

Benvolio bit back a laugh as he watched the great and powerful Prince of Cats be defeated by his overly excited cousin, and namely his weak spot. Juliet jumped down and smiled brightly at the older Capulet.

"Well, I've gotta go! Romeo and I are going to go see Batman v. Superman, and I don't want to be late!" Juliet exclaimed, linking arms with Romeo. The pair of young lovers turned heel and started walking down a side street toward the theater.

"Looks like you're stuck with me now," Benvolio said, grinning. Tybalt glowered at him and shoved his hands into his jeans' pockets.

"Well, lead the way, Montague. You obviously have some kind of plan for our Capulet-Montague bonding time," Tybalt said sourly.

"Wow! You must be telepathic or something!" Benvolio exclaimed, slipping his arm through Tybalt's. "There's this new ice cream place in town that Mercutio told me was really good, I heard that Zootopia had an amazing message about race and acceptance, and then we can go down to that cool cat cafe!"

Tybalt looked up from staring at Benvolio's arm at the word 'cat'. "A cafe that has…cats?" He asked, trying to control his excitement

"Yeah! Isn't it cool? It's just a regular coffee shop except there are cats EVERYWHERE!" Benvolio said, waving his free hand around with a beam.

"Well, that sounds alright," Tybalt replied sullenly, covering for himself.

Benvolio smiled at the Capulet and Tybalt felt his cheeks get a little hot. He turned away and muttered something about his jacket being too heavy. The blonde began humming a disgustingly happy song and swinging his arm freely as the pair walked down the street toward said new ice cream place.

The sun was bright gold and shone down on the city of Verona. The sky was a pure baby blue dotted with fluffy pillows of clouds. The buildings were made of mostly tinted glass in this section. The cobblestone streets were reminiscent of an earlier time, perhaps even before the famous and suddenly ended feud.

"Here we are," Benvolio said, pointing to a square white building painted with a hot fudge sundae on the side next to the walk up window. He pulled Tybalt forward by his hand now. The dark haired man felt a scarlet creeping up his neck towards his cheek and ears.

What… What is this Montague sorcery? Why am I feeling like this…? Tybalt thought, curling his fingers around the crimson fabric over the left side of his chest. He shook off the thoughts and focused on the ice cream salesperson.

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor, Tybalt?" Benvolio asked, examining the board with all the favors listed.

"Rocky road. You?" Tybalt said, looking at Benvolio through the corner of his eye.

"My favorite's butter pecan, but I don't think they have it…" Benvolio trailed off. He turned to the salesperson. "Two rocky road cones, please," he said,

The vendor turned around to check the freezers and his face fell. "Oh my, we only have enough left for one…"

"That's okay! We can share, right, Tybalt?" Benvolio said, smiling up at Tybalt.

The Capulet looked away and muttered something akin to a yes. Benvolio made a move to pay the vendor, but Tybalt lowered his hand. "No. I'll pay," Tybalt stated, pulling a ten dollar bill from his pocket. He slapped it on the counter and took the ice cream cone.

Benvolio blushed and smiled a little. "Thanks," he said.

"It's not a problem," Tybalt said, taking a bite of the ice cream. Benvolio watched in awe- anyone who could bite straight into ice cream had to be some kind of superhero. Tybalt noticed him watching and gave him a look. "Close your mouth. You'll let the flies in." The Montague's mouth snapped shut and his face reddened considerably in embarrassment. The darker haired man chuckled and handed Benvolio the cone. "Here."

Across the street, Mercutio did a double take, causing him to run into a lamp post. He pulled his earbuds out of his ears, cutting off his unceasing stream of "Uptown Funk". He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things right. Was Tybalt "Go fuck yourself" Capulet sharing an ice cream cone with Benvolio "Find a happy place" Montague?! Mercutio shivered and chalked it up to aftershock from his latest rave party.

"You wanted to take me to some kind of movie?" Tybalt asked as he walked with Benvolio down the street.

"Yeah! Romeo and Mercutio went to see it the other day, but I was waiting tables so I couldn't go. Mercutio was high the whole time, but Romeo said it was really smart and funny. I thought it would be nice for us to go see a movie, so we can talk about something besides the weather and if Rosaline is gay or not," Benvolio explained, swinging his arms jubilantly.

"Do you think she's gay?" Tybalt asked, handing the ice cream cone back to Benvolio.

"I'm not sure. I can think of a lot of people that wouldn't want to date Romeo. He follows whoever he's in love with like a puppy trying to get adopted," Benvolio confided, laughing a little.

"That's the best description I've heard of him in a long time," Tybalt said with a small smile.

Benvolio smiled back, seemingly pleased with himself. He grabbed Tybalt's hand and began to run down the street. "C'mon! Let's go catch the movie before it's too late!"

A couple hours later, Benvolio and Tybalt were sitting across from each other in the cat cafe. About a dozen cats had affixed themselves to Tybalt and his chair while he attempted to drink a coffee without hair balls.

"This place is so cool," Benvolio said, looking around at all the various cats.

"It is," Tybalt agreed, scratching behind the ears of a fuzzy black kitten in his lap.

The blonde smiled softly. "You… Really like cats, don't you?"

The Capulet looked up in mild surprise. "I suppose I do. I didn't used to as much as I do now. That idiot Mercutio started calling me 'The Prince of Cats' and ever since then, cats just seem to follow me around. They really aren't that bad. Sometimes they seem aggressive on the outside, but once you get to know them- they can be really affectionate and sweet," Tybalt said with a half smile as the kitten rubbed its head against his leg.

Benvolio picked up a white cat from the floor and sat it on his lap. "I guess you're right," he said, stroking the animal's soft fur.

Tybalt glanced up at the clock and frowned. "Damn. Juliet's movie is probably over and she's gonna start blowing up my phone until I get home," he said, rising.

Benvolio got up too and the pair stood there for a minute before Benvolio unexpectedly gave Tybalt a tight embrace. The dark haired man stood there awkwardly, too in shock to do anything about this strange happenstance. The blonde stepped back sheepishly with a shy smile.

"Sorry…" He said, looking up at Tybalt through his floppy hair.

"Well you should be," the Capulet muttered, marching out the door. Benvolio watched him go and smiled slightly. Things had gone better than he had dared hope for.

"TYBALT! YOU'RE HOOOOOOOME!" Juliet exclaimed, tackling her cousin with another overly energetic hug. She started kissing his face again and asking a long line of questions that couldn't be distinguished from each other.

Tybalt chuckled and set Juliet down on the hardwood floor. "Hey, Jules. How was your movie?"

She waved a hand. "Whatever! Tell me about your time with Benvolio!" She cried, bouncing up and down on her heels.

The dark haired man looked up at the domed ceiling. "It was…interesting," he said.

Juliet giggled. "Well you've got to start somewhere!" she said brightly.

"Juliet! You need to go to bed! We have a big day tomorrow!" Mrs. Capulet called from the table.

The younger Capulet said goodnight to her cousin, gave him a peck on the cheek, and dashed up the stairs as fast as her tiny feet would take her. Tybalt smiled as he watched her go before pulling off his jacket. A folded piece of paper fell out onto the floor. The Prince of Cats stooped to pick it up, trying to decide whether to be irritated or miffed. He straightened up and opened the piece of paper.

Call me sometime!

202-555-0126

-Benvolio