It’s been a long minute since I published a chapter for my Jo Jules story... Here’s a peek for what’s in the chapter 👀🌚
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Flashback
The front door swung open with a soft thud against the wall. “Alright, alright, watch the step.” Link laughed, his voice thick with alcohol as he waved a hand vaguely forward. “Penthouse rules. No falling down the stairs on your first visit.” He added. He stepped aside and nodded Jules in first.
Jules slipped past him, one hand brushing the doorframe as she entered. The apartment opened wide in front of her. The kitchen gleamed under soft overhead lights, the staircase curling upward, the dining table to the left. Her gaze wandered lazily through the space, the pleasant haze of alcohol keeping everything just a little soft around the edges.
Then her eyes drifted further left and then it stopped. A woman sat on the couch, a laptop resting across her legs.
For a moment, Jules didn’t think much of it. It was just someone working late. The glow of the screen lit her face while the moonlight from the window spilled softly across her hair. Then the woman lifted her gaze and their eyes met.
Everything else seemed to fall away. Link was still talking, something about tequila and Seattle traffic but his words dulled instantly, muffled like sound underwater. The distant hum of Seattle traffic faded with it.
Jo felt the air in the room shift. It felt warm. Not dramatically but enough that it made her chest feel a little tight.
Across the room, Jules halted mid-step. Her breath caught in her throat. Her pulse jumped once, twice, suddenly louder in her ears as she took in the woman on the couch.
Moonlight caught in her hair at the perfect angle, turning strands of dark brunette and warm caramel into something almost luminous. She wore a grey robe loosely draped over burgundy pajamas, one sleeve slipping slightly down her wrist where her hand rested on the laptop.
She looked… warm. Not just comfortable but warm in a way that felt personal. The kind of warmth people wrote poems about while pretending they weren’t writing about a person at all. Jules’ chest fluttered and she wasn’t even sure why.
On the couch, Jo had stopped breathing properly. Her heart had reacted first, it was an immediate quickening she couldn’t quite explain. A small hitch followed in her breath as her eyes traced over the woman who had just stepped into the apartment.
Her hair was a little messy, like she’d been laughing moments before walking through the door. Her jacket didn’t quite match the rest of her outfit, but somehow it worked. She looked drunk, but far more coherent than Link. She looked bright and unpredictable, almost like a reckless spark dropped into the middle of Jo’s carefully structured life.
And then Jules smiled. It wasn’t even big. It was just a small grin tugging at one corner of her mouth after their eyes locked. But it made Jo want to keep looking. “She looks like trouble.” Jo thought. It was the dangerous kind. It was the kind you didn’t see coming until you were already standing in the middle of the storm.
Link stumbled a step forward, laughing as he pressed a hand to Jules’ back. “Hey! This-This is my best friend.” He said, gesturing vaguely toward Jo. “We have kids around the same age so we stay here.” He added, waving a hand.
Jo barely heard him. Her gaze had already drifted back to Jules. Jules looked back immediately. Something unspoken flickered between them again.
Jo closed her laptop slowly and set it on the couch beside her before she stood. Jules’ hand twitched faintly at her side as Jo approached. Each step seemed louder than it should’ve been. Jules found herself tracking every movement without meaning to. The soft shift of the robe around Jo’s legs, the way her hair moved across her shoulders.
When Jo stopped in front of them, the motion displaced the air between them. A faint current brushed across Jules’ face and with it came the scent. It was soft and warm. It was warm vanilla and something floral she couldn’t quite name.
Jules’ breath caught again and her eyes closed for the briefest second. A quiet exhale slipped from her lips, almost a content sigh she didn’t realize she’d made. Her head tilted slightly, confusion flickering through her thoughts. “What was that?” She thought.
When her eyes opened again, Jo was already looking at her, watching her. There was a small smile on Jo’s face now. It was soft, amused, almost a little giddy at having been caught noticing.
A breathy chuckle escaped her before she could stop it. The sound made something warm spark in Jules’ chest. Without realizing it, Jules leaned forward a fraction. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
There are moments in life that seem ordinary while they are happening. A door opening, a stranger stepping inside, two people meeting for the first time. Most of the time those moments pass without consequence. A polite hello, a brief conversation, a name you forget by the next morning.
But sometimes the smallest moments carry the greatest weight. Because sometimes the person standing in front of you isn’t just another passing face. Sometimes they are the beginning of everything. And the strange thing about beginnings is… you rarely recognize them while they’re happening.
Sometimes you meet someone and before you even know their name… your life has already changed.
Jules straightened slightly, remembering herself, and extended her hand. “Jules.” She said. Her voice came out steady enough, though her pulse skipped an extra beat, a warmth blooming low in her chest. “Jules Millin.” She added, letting her fingers linger unconsciously at the tips of Jo’s.
Jo glanced down at the offered hand, feeling a faint rush of awareness as she caught the warmth of Jules’ grip. She reached out and the moment their palms touched, a sharp little spark ignited. It was quick, electric and undeniable. Both of them jolted slightly, caught in the moment, as if a secret current ran between them.
For a split second, they stared at their joined hands, Jo noticing the subtle strength in Jules’ fingers, the firm heat under her own, Jules feeling the delicate coolness radiating from Jo’s hand, soft and slightly alive. Their contact lingered a beat longer than a normal handshake and neither realized they were both holding just slightly tighter than they intended.
Jo’s throat went dry. Her brain felt momentarily forgetful, words scattering like leaves in the wind. “Oh uh…” She began, blinking rapidly as she tried to collect herself. “I-I’m…” She stammered. Her fingers twitched, curling just a fraction around Jules’ hand before she realized she was doing it.
Jules’ gaze softened, her heart skipping in a way that made her forget the rest of the room, the people around and even the sound of her own breathing. She didn’t pull away, letting Jo’s grip linger, enjoying the faint thrill of being noticed in this way.
Jo cleared her throat. “I’m Jo. Jo Wilson.” She said. Her voice came out quiet, almost reverent, a pulse of something unspoken threading through it.
Jules’ grin widened subtly, eyes tracing Jo’s face in a way that lingered too long for mere politeness and she couldn’t help but notice the slight catch in Jo’s breath as their hands brushed.
“Hi.” Jo murmured again, more for herself than for Jules, a faint flush rising in her cheeks. Jules mirrored her, voice softening, “Hi.” She repeated. The sound of it felt almost intimate, despite being a greeting. They both let out a quiet laugh, shy, warm, aware, like two people noticing a secret no one else could see.
When their hands finally parted, the space between them didn’t expand. The air still seemed charged, tingling with the memory of that electric brush of warmth and pressure, the tiny lingering pulse, the faint catch of breath that made them both aware of the other’s presence. Neither stepped back and neither could ignore it. The world had shrunk to that tiny, magnetic orbit where Jo and Jules now existed together, if only for a heartbeat.
Link suddenly clapped his hands together. “Alright.” He said, swaying slightly. “We’re gonna head upstairs.” He told.
The words landed strangely in Jo’s chest. A small, sharp flicker of something, jealousy maybe or something close to it, sparked before she could stop it. “Why do I care?” She thought.
Across from her, Jules’ smile faded just slightly. For the briefest second, she wished Link would just… vanish. Instead she found herself noticing Jo again. The faint flush rising in her cheeks, the way her lips pressed together unconsciously, the focus in her eyes that felt oddly personal. “She’s watching me.” She thought. It shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did… but it did.
Link hovered a hand at the small of Jules’ back, already turning toward the staircase. “Come on.” He said and Jules hesitated a fraction of a second before following him.
As they reached the stairs, Link started up first but Jules paused when something tugged at her. She glanced back over her shoulder and Jo was still standing exactly where she’d left her, hands tucked into the pockets of her robe, watching. Jo lifted her chin just slightly.
Jules’ mouth curved into the smallest grin. “It was… good meeting you.” She said. Jo’s expression softened, her head tilting a little. “Yeah. You too.” Jo replied quietly. Jules held her gaze another second before she turned and climbed the stairs. Jo stood there long after she disappeared from her sight.
End of flashback
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It’s been a long time coming. Sorry for the long wait. Due to the amount that I wrote, it had to be broken in two parts, so basically you get two chapters worth in one 😁 I said before but I hope it makes up for the amount of time I didn't update.
Side note: you get a little teaser for the next chapter. I included it in the Notes of part 2 if you wanna head there and go read 👀
If you do, here are the links:
Chapter 12 Part 1 -
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter 12 Part 2 -
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Next chapter may or may not include a kissy or two (or more) if you wanna stay and find out 🌚
Also if you've read this far: As some of us know, Camilla Luddington recently got bangs so naturally it gives me an idea. I think I might be in the minority that likes the bangs but do we give Jo the haircut? 👀 Do we see if Jules likes it and how Link and the others would react to it too 👀 let me know if 😌
