Chapter 22 - Finally!

For the last couple of days Zoey had been bombarding Julia with calls and messages, which Julia had chosen to ignore. Her friend had been asking how she had been, whether she would talk to Jack, when she was coming back to New York... After receiving no reaction whatsoever from Julia, Zoey had changed her strategy though. She started informing Julia what she was up to, what Jack was doing, where they were going...

Thanks to these messages Julia knew exactly where to go the next morning. Instead of driving straight to New York, she directed her car to Mrs and Mr Deschanel's house. According to Zoey's latest messages the Deschanel siblings intended to spend the weekend there.

I bet she told me that, hoping to lure me to the Deschanel's den... Julia thought, shaking her head in disbelief.

Julia was sure Zoey knew very well what she was doing. She wanted to see her brother and her best friend back together.

"There is someone, isn't there?" her mom asked as Julia was getting into her car. "I can see you are thinking of him... a lot..."

Julia felt bad for leaving her mom so soon. Originally she'd intended to stay at least a few more days. So now she did not want to lie to her.

"Yeah, mom. There is someone... And maybe I can still get him back. If I do, you will hear all about it. I promise."

"Alright, baby." Her mom gave her a hug. "You know where to find me."

"Thanks, mom. I love you." Julia squeezed Mrs Stiles, hoping this would show her mother how grateful she was for her support in the last year. Then, without saying anything else, she got into her car and was off.

***

It hurt. It actually fucking hurt to lose Julia.

"I will not be waiting long..." he had told her, but the truth was he was going to wait for as long as it took. Jack was head over heels for that intelligent, stubborn, strong woman and he was shocked by the physical pain he was feeling at the thought of not being with her, of not having her by his side.

True, Julia's lack of trust in him did annoy Jack, but he was way over that anger he'd felt when she'd burst into his office a couple of days ago. She had all the right to suspect his involvement in Nicholas' death, but Jack understood it only now. Initially his ego had been hurt by Julia's untrue accusations and somehow Jack hadn't been able to look past them at first.

He'd almost dialed her number a couple of times already, but had ended up putting the phone down each time. He'd told himself that he should give her time, but the truth was he was scared. Jack was scared that Julia would turn him down and he wasn't ready to cope with that. He would never be ready...

Where's Zoey with that scotch? Jack thought annoyed, breaking his reverie and turning around to look at his parent's house.

Zoey had dragged him down here, convincing Jack that visiting mom and dad would be a nice break from work and other stuff, as she had nicely put it. They both had known what she'd meant by that.

Jack heard the doorbell ring and he lied back on the sunbed with a sigh. Last thing he wanted and felt the strength for was to face his mother's gossiping friends, or worse, Zoey's old school friends. Bah!

There is only one friend of Zoey's that I would love to see now... he thought hopelessly.

***

It had been barely a few seconds since she rang the bell, yet to Julia it felt like eternity before she heard footsteps and the door opened.

Mrs Deschanel was the one who opened the door and Julia was welcomed by a shocked expression on the woman's face.

"Julia...!?" she finally managed to utter. "What are you doing here?"

Auch!

"Mrs Deschanel I'm sorry for the intrusion, but..."

"Nonsense, dear! You are not intruding at all," Mrs Deschanel must have realized that her first reaction was not an appropriate one. "I'm just surprised to see you. Zoey said you are at your mom's..."

"Julia?!" Zoey and Mr Deschanel exclaimed in one voice, coming out of the kitchen.

Julia walked into the house feeling embarrassed and out of place.

God, what if Zoey or Jack had already told their parents how I had mistreated their son... What if they hate me now?

The wide grin that spread over Zoey's face pushed away Julia's doubts though.

"I'm so glad you're here, Jules," she whispered, closing Julia in a tight embrace.

Over her friend's shoulder Julia could see the Deschanels exchanging worried looks.

"I'm here to see Jack, actually." Julia turned to Mrs Deschanel.

"You are?" the elderly woman asked, looking at Zoey for help.

She probably worries there's going to be a knife fight between me and Jack... Julia thought, trying to hold back a chuckle.

"He's in the garden, Jules." Zoey said, understanding her thoughts. "Grab the glass of scotch from the kitchen counter on your way there."

Julia nodded, sent the Deschanels a faint smile and moved to the back door.

Hesitantly she stepped out to the porch and looked around the garden. There he was laying on the sunbed; the annoying CEO who hadn't even realized he'd been prejudiced towards promoting women, the unnerving university student who'd lived for pissing her off. There he was; Jack Deschanel who Julia Stiles loved.

There was something in his posture though that made Jack look beaten.

Have I done that to him? She thought. Have I broken him?

Deciding not to answer that question, Julia slowly walked over to Jack. Trying not to squeeze the glass of scotch too hard, she gently placed it on the table next to him.

"You took your sweet time, Zoey..." Jack chuckled, grabbing the drink.

Julia just stood there frozen. Suddenly Julia Stiles was lost for words? She rolled her eyes at herself, taking a deep breath.

"Who was it at the door?" Jack asked, turning around. He froze, seeing Julia.

"Hi, Jack," she whispered, forcing a smile.

Jack, clearly still shocked, kept staring at her; his face emotionless. Julia took it as a queue for her to act and she walked around the table and kneeled on the grass next to Jack's sunbed.

She gently took the scotch from Jack's hand and put it back on the table.

"You wouldn't like to drop that..."

Julia grabbed Jack's hand and held it tight, worried that he might want to take it back. She watched their intertwined fingers, afraid to look him in the eyes. She knew he had his CEO façade on right now.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm sorry for accusing you of murder, I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to explain, I'm sorry for not trusting in you." Julia took a deep breath, still not lifting her gaze. She hoped Jack would say something, but he kept quiet. He didn't take his hand back, though. Julia continued, "I was so angry when I first heard of Nicholas' death, I didn't even listen to everything detective Rivera had had to say. I learned only yesterday that it was a mafia retaliation..."

Julia finally felt brave enough to look up. Jack's eyes were intently boring into hers. He still had his emotionless mask on, but Julia saw a crack in it; he looked relieved.

Julia leaned over to touch his face.

"I love you, Jack Deschanel."

Jack swallowed hard.

"When we were younger," he finally spoke, as if ignoring Julia's words. "Why did you hate me so much?"

"I... what?" Julia asked, confused by his words.

"Was it because I used to score girl after girl, not looking back? Not sparing the girls even one thought on the next day?"

Julia wasn't sure what Jack was getting at. They'd never talked of the reason for the mutual dislike they had felt towards each other before... well, before they started liking each other. But yeah, whatever Jack had just spoken of was one of the reasons...

"Cause if it was," he continued, not waiting for Julia to respond, "and if any of the girls felt even remotely what I've felt since you left me, Julia..." his voice trembled, "Then I don't blame you for hating me back then."

"Jack, I didn't really hate you. I mean I did think so back then, but now I see it wasn't hate... wait, what did you just say?" Julia realized Jack was actually making a point.

"I said," he whispered, putting his arms around Julia and pulling her on top of him, "I don't want you to ever leave me like that again. I love you too, Julia Stiles."

"Is that an order, Mister CEO?" she asked with a chuckle.

"I would never dare to order you to do anything, Miss Stiles. I know how you hate that... I just humbly ask you to stay with me."

"A humble Jack Deschanel...? Now, that's something I'll gladly stick around to see."

Julia pulled his head closer and kissed Jack slowly. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, as if never intending to let her go.

"God, I've missed you, Stiles..." he whispered, resting his forehead against Julia's

"I'll try to make it up to you..."

"Oh, I know you will," he sent her a lustful grin. "And I already have an idea how..."

Julia could feel his hand trailing down her back. Being in Jack's arms, she finally felt safe.

Their lips touched again, but they were instantly forced to pull apart as a sound of breaking glass cut through the air. Julia and Jack turned to the Deschanel mansion, as this was where the sound came from.

There, surrounded by pieces of a shattered wine bottle, stood Mrs Deschanel with the widest possible smile on her face.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed. "Finally!"

Mister Deschanel came rushing out of the house with a broom.

"Darling, are you..." he stopped in his tracks, seeing Julia in Jack's arms. "Now, that's a surprise," he said with a chuckle.

Zoey emerged from the house right after her dad. She wasn't surprised by the sight though. A wide grin spread on her face too.

"I knew it!" Mrs Deschanel clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I knew that these two would be together."

"Yes, you did, mom." Jack admitted, shaking his head in disbelief. He stifled a laugh though.

Julia stood up, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, don't mind us, my dear! You two look so nice together!" Mrs Deschanel exclaimed, jumping over the pieces of glass that her husband started sweeping off the terrace floor. She walked over to Julia and hugged her heartily. "I'm so happy."

"Thank you, Mrs Deschanel." Julia felt slightly overwhelmed. Yet, the warmth and love that she'd always received from the Deschanel family gave her a sense of belonging. And now with Jack by her side, she no longer doubted to truly have found a place for herself.

They spent the rest of the day in the garden talking and laughing. Mister Deschanel made it his job to feed everyone and was serving them barbeque till late in the evening.

Jack's hand would trail circles on Julia's back or would accidentally find its way under her blouse, which others pretended not to see.

This was a perfect new beginning for Julia as a person freed from the shadows of her past, a perfect new beginning for Julia and Jack freed from the prejudices they used to feel towards each other.

Julia glanced at Jack, sensing there would for sure be many occasions when Jack would piss her off with his CEO ways or annoy her with his ego, but at the same time she knew that he loved her and would put her wellbeing and safety before his.

And anyway, who said their relationship should be only nice and sweet! A fight every now and then would not hurt anyone. And, hell, both Jack and Julia knew how to fight!