Title: Let Me Run Away
Rating: T. There's some language and perhaps some mild sexual content in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't Bend it Like Beckham. So, I can't claim anyone, unfortunately…(If I did...I wouldn't have to write femslash for it.)
Summary: It's a story about having some fun, and the romance that starts between Jules and Jess, and how they fall for each other despite everything they have to deal with first to realize it.
Feedback: Thank you to everyone who sends feedback, I really appreciate it. I'd love some feedback on the final chapter.
Author's Note: Gasp. It's the last chapter. I didn't even realize it was going to be the last chapter until I started writing it. I considered breaking this into two parts because it was so long…but really, there was no decent place to break the chapter in half. So, you get it in whole. At least since it's the last chapter, it's also the longest chapter. Enjoy.
Jules felt the cement below her feet. It let off a satisfying thump each time one of her feet would land against it. Thump. If she concentrated on it enough, perhaps she could get her mind off of Jess. Tony and Jess. Jess and Tony. No, either way it didn't make sense. Jess and Jules sounded so much better together. She had always thought that Tony had seemed a little…non-heterosexual. Apparently, her gaydar was wrong at the worst times. She breathed in again to try to keep herself from crying. It didn't work, so instead she paused to wipe away a few more tears. Then, she was back to running.
Her mother would just love this. Her daughter in love with another girl. Sure, there had been the moment in time where she fancied Joe. So, she convinced herself that it was the opposite sex that she liked. She went out with a few of the guys that her mother wanted to set her up with. All of them were prats, yet she put up with it. She realized why now. It was because if she focused on Joe just a little bit more, pretended that the guys weren't so stupid and obnoxious that she was set up with; it wouldn't be true. She wouldn't be a lesbian. Jules wouldn't be falling in love with a girl that she met in a park. She wouldn't have first met the girl after watching her play football for hours against a few guys. While all the other girls that were onlookers to the game checked out the guys' abs; she was busy staring at Jess. In fact, she had been afraid that at some point, someone would notice. No one did. Well, her mother did, but she was paranoid about everything. You couldn't use her as a judge for anything that was logically. Though, Jules wasn't entirely sure if falling in love with her best friend would be considered logical anyway. Probably not.
"Jules," the blonde shook her head. Now she was hearing things. Great. Hearing Jess' voice in her head was just what she wanted. Not. "Jules, will you stop for a second?" Thump. Thump. Thump. Aha! If she concentrated on the sound of her feet against the cement, then the voice went away. "Jules, we're not in bloody football practice. You can slow down!" Or not. "Jules!" She turned her head slightly to she that Jess was running after her. Damn. All of those practices and runs in the park really had paid off for Jess. She was getting faster. Jules sped up. She didn't want to her Jess' love story about her and Tony. The blonde had seen enough when she noticed the two of them cuddled together on the bench.
Jess had taken off after Jules the moment she had the chance. She could make out the outline of her best friend against the shadows. The sun was beginning to set, and soon they would be running in the moonlight. Well, this was provided both girls could keep running that long. If Jess had her way, she'd catch up to Jules any second now. She just wanted to talk things over with the girl. The brunette had tried to call out to her, but the blonde hadn't heard her. After a few more tries, it was blatantly obvious that the blonde had heard her, but was ignoring her. That settles that. Jess was just going to have to catch up to Jules. Wait, was Jules speeding up? Jess was very glad for all of their runs through the park suddenly. It was because of this that she was able to maintain her speed. Then, a moment later, she thought of the fact that Jules and Jess needed to talk. Jess has a burst of speed.
The girls had run the distance of the park several times, but had stayed in the park paths because it was easier than if they started running down sidewalks in town. There they would get looks from random people for the unusual style of running they had. They ran together, but one girl was always chasing the other. Perhaps others would perceive it as some game to keep the other always running just a little bit faster, but in truth, it wasn't a game. It was love. So, they stayed in the park. Jules took a wild turn and went running through the grass in the park. The sun had been setting when Jules first saw Tony and Jess together, now things were bathed in the moonlight. Her feet no longer thumping on the ground. Instead, it sounded more like she was telling someone to be quiet. Shh. Shh. It was almost as though she was shuffling her feet. The sound itself was much more muffled than on the cement. It wasn't quite as soothing, and it threw her off her pattern for the first time.
Then, Jess was just a breath behind Jules. "Jules, stop!" She didn't. "Come on. Say something to me."
Jules' eyes flashed in the moonlight. "Race me," and then she was a few feet ahead again of Jess. They'd probably been running for the past half of an hour, and both girls were tired but it was pure adrenaline that kept them going. That and both were afraid what would happen if she stopped. Jess did the only thing she could; she raced Jules. They were still running through the grass, but now no one was there playing football. No one was there walking their dog or playing with their kids. It was just two girls racing through it, and the occasional person that would give them an odd look. It's not like they noticed.
After a minute or so, Jess surged next to Jules. "Don't make me stop you myself." Jules shifted her eyes over at Jess, and she pondered stopping for a moment. No, she couldn't fathom having to hear Jess recite her love for Tony to her in an effort to make her suddenly understand. No.
"No," Jules whispered suddenly, and Jess nodded. She had assumed as much. Jules wasn't going to stop running away, but Jess wasn't prepared to stop running towards her either. She did the only thing she could. She tackled Jules. Yes, tackled. Not the kind of tackle that involves stealing the football away from Jules; there was no football. The kind of tackle that they have in American football. The one where guys lunge at each other for a ball, and then carry towards the other end of the field. Only, there was no ball of any sort; there was just them.
Then, both girls were on the ground. Jules was sprawled out on the soft grass that didn't thump when she ran on it. She silently cursed it. Jess was sprawled on top of Jules sort-of lopsidedly. She corrected herself so that her hands were planted on the ground on either side of Jules' face. The brunette was too tired to correct her position any more than that. Though, she knew how it looked if anyone would happen to walk by. That wasn't important at the moment. Jules looked up at Jess confused and tired. Was she just tackled? Jess saw the confusion in Jules' eyes. "You wouldn't stop running." More confusion. "It was the only way I could think of getting you to stop running." Jules suddenly wondered if Jess wasn't moving off of her body for a reason. Did Jess want the same thing she did?
"I just…I needed to talk to you, you know? Of course you know. Or maybe you don't know. Is that why you didn't stop running?" Jess rambled on, not giving Jules a moment to talk had she even tried to. She didn't try to, but that was because it seemed perhaps faster to just let Jess ramble on until she hit her point. The reason she had been chasing Jules for the past half an hour. "What you saw in the park…Tony and me, we're not together. Well, we were together, but not that kind of together. We're just friends. Mates. You know? As for Joe…I meant what I said in your room. I don't fancy him like that. We really never did kiss properly. I mean, not that he's not cute or anything. He's just not my type." Jules began to wonder if she was Jess' type. "I hadn't meant for you to see Tony and I together like that. Not that there was anything to hide, but I just mean to tell you that, we don't fancy each other, alright? We're not going to end up together like that no matter how much my sister thinks that he's mad about me. He's not, and I'm not. She's the one that's mad, in the insane way, I mean. Well, not all the time. Just sometimes. This being one of the times." Jess was prepared to ramble on for quite a ways, but she was stopped by the sudden pressing of Jules' lips against her own.
Jules had listened to Jess talk for the last several minutes. Her rambling was cute, but it didn't seem to be leading any particular direction fast. Well, it seemed to be heading towards the idea that Jess fancied Jules; though, Jules wasn't completely sure. The feeling of Jess pressed down against her was enough to get her sidetracked as it was. Plus, her face was just looming there in front of her. The brunette's hands were on either side of her head, and her legs were already close to straddling her. Perfect kissing situation. Then, Jules just lifted up her head and caught the brunette's lips in her own. Her eyes drifted shut, and although Jess was caught off-guard, her eyes did the same. In fact, her lips did the same as Jules' as well, a moment later. She was suddenly leaning in closer to Jules, so that the blonde didn't have to crane her neck upwards to reach her lips. The kiss lasted for several moments before Jules pulled back a little bit, lying her head back on the ground. "It was the only way I could think of to get you to stop talking." Jess smiled, remembering that she had said similar words to Jules only moments before. Leave it to Jules to have some wit left in her after a sudden kiss.
"I was getting there," Jess murmured shyly. Then she elaborated, "I do fancy someone, Jules, just like I said in your room. It's you."
Jules grinned. She had begun to guess as much during their kiss. "Yeah? Well…You were wrong. It's not Jason that I like." Jess smiled and leaned down initiating the kiss herself this time. It took only a moment before Jess swiped her tongue across Jules' bottom lip, and Jules eagerly opened her mouth to allow Jess' tongue into her mouth, effectively deepening the kiss. It was a few minutes before the girls emerged for air. That truly was a good kissing position. Jules had been right. "I love you," Jules murmured into the other girl's ear.
"I love you too," Jess whispered back just as happily. She wasn't entirely sure why they were whispering. It may have been due to the running the girls had been in, and they were finally running out of air. Or the kissing. After another kiss, it was decided. Definitely the kissing, but neither girl was prepared to stop anytime soon. Jess stood up, and reached out for Jules' hand. They had to be getting back sometime. Their parents would be wondering. They linked their fingers together, casually walking back towards the path in the park. The moonlight bathing everything with a healthy glow.
Jules' mother had wondered about her for a while, and eventually Jules would have to admit that she was right. By then, her mother would have to accept the fact that she wasn't going to marry a proper English gentleman, complete with proper manners and a great set of teeth. Though, once her mother's back was turned, he turned into an octopus trying to put his hands all over her; the manners gone. No. She wasn't going to have that. Her mother was going to have to deal with the fact that she had a girlfriend named Jess who also had proper manners. Her mother had even complimented her on that one day when she had been at her house. At least she wouldn't have to worry about when she turned her back; Jess would still have proper manners. Though, Jules wouldn't necessarily disapprove of the octopus thing, at times, with Jess.
Jess was sure that her parents would freak out when they found out that she had a girlfriend. Also, her parents would freak out if someone ever saw the two girls kissing before she told them. Well, they'd just have to be careful about where they were when they decided to start kissing. Though if anyone ever asked…It could have been a boy that she was with and kissing. A boy named Juliet, better known as Jules. And Jules was so much better than any English guy, or Irish guy for that matter, in Jess' opinion. After all, English girls had such short hair nowadays.