Title: After the Game Has Ended

Fandom: The Forbidden Game

Pairing/Characters: Julian/Jenny

Rating: FR13

Disclaimer: The Forbidden Game belongs to L.J. Smith and company.

Prompts: Written for idea_of_scarcasm for Yuletide's New Year's Resolution Challenge. The prompt was for a post-series story of the heterosexual variety between Julian and Jenny.

Notes: Set five years after the third book ends.

Summary: The house is quiet and there's a chill in the air.

Word Count: 2393

The summer following the events of Julian's final game in Pennsylvania had seen Jenny and her friends grow even closer. It had been a magical summer, one that they would all look back at fondly throughout their lives. There were countless pool parties at Jenny's house where Zach and Summer grew closer (they ended up lasting much longer than Jenny had predicted much to her delight), where Audrey and Michael changed and seemed to transcend the high school archetypes that they had once been. As well Dee spent much of that summer studying and they had all helped her throughout it because it was important to Dee. And of course, there was Tom and Jenny, the golden couple, and the summer of 1994 was clearly their summer.

Looking back, Jenny can see that it was that summer, that golden and glorious summer, where the cracks began to develop in the foundation of their relationship. It wasn't that they fell out of love; in fact after the series of games that they had played they had grown to love one another even more. But the problem was that they had both changed because of the games, especially Jenny who had discovered so much about herself in Julian's attempts to capture her. After the Games, she was no longer the sweet, meek and mild girl of before. There was no way that she could be. And she didn't let anyone, not even her beloved Tom, tell her what to do.

After the summer ended, they headed back to school and ever so slowly the seven friends started to move away from one another. They were still friends but things were different. Michael and Audrey started to talk about going to a prestigious university back east, while Tom focused on his athletic ability in order to get a scholarship that could lead to a career in professional sports. Dee became fascinated with archaeology and spent even more time studying while Zach and Summer (still joined at the hip) spent their spare time going to art exhibits. And then there was Jenny who was still trying to figure out just who Jenny Thornton was and what she wanted to do.

When their final year of high school was almost over, Tom announced his scholarship and he had expected that Jenny would follow him. Despite the Game and despite the fact that she had clearly changed, he had expected her to prescribe to a dream that she no longer dreamt and hadn't since the moment she had walked into the More Games shop. They hadn't really broken up but in August had headed to Florida; she had headed to Washington to prove once and for all that she was her only master. Yet a part of her had wondered if proving that was worth going into self-imposed exile in a place where it seemed to rain more than the sun shone.

* * *

The class is obviously tired and distracted by the grey gloom outside and by the fact that this is their last class before exams and then winter break. Everyone is on edge and worried if the weather will continue to be miserable and if it'll affect travel plans back home. The weather warnings are currently calling for snow over the next two weeks. Jenny is distractedly writing the notes without really processing what she's writing, in reality she's a million miles away and thinking about the past.

She's never really liked this night class on Norse mythology but she needs in order to graduate. Jenny's grateful that this is the last class before the exam since she always feels a sense of trepidation when she takes her normal seat besides one of the big windows (a wise decision back in September when the class room had been stifling hot but not so wise now that it's cold and the window is rather drafty.)

The professor has written a series of runes on the chalkboard and although both of her little fingers are pricking and she is filled with a sense of unease, Jenny copies them into her notebook. The memories of the events from five years ago seem a lifetime away and this is not the first set of runes that she has copied. She looks up at the chalkboard before looking at her notebook to ensure she has the shapes right. When she looks back down, for a brief moment, Jenny swears that the runes on the paper had faintly glowed an electric blue colour. Jenny blinks and looks again and the runes are in black ink on the white paper.

She attributes what she thought she saw to a tired a mind and nothing more. Soon enough the professor wraps up the class to the sound of relieved sighs and Jenny stands up woodenly before heading out of the cold room and towards the parkade where her car is parked. As she walks through the cold and damp cement structure to where her car is parked, the overhead lights begin to flicker as she steps under each one.

At first the flickering is faint until she is almost at her car and the flickering is stronger and accompanied by a buzzing sound. Jenny rushes to her car, her keys in her hand and although she can't explain her fear or nervousness, she quickly unlocks her car door and slides in. She locks the door before she grips the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles are white. When nothing happens, Jenny laughs at herself; the laugh is brittle and sharp in the close confines of her car.

* * *

The drive home is uneventful and she pulls up in front of the small house that her parents had bought as a future investment during her second year (after she had come home full of horror stories about dorm life.) Her parents have already started talking to a local property management company about renting it out when Jenny's done school and back home in California. Jenny's not so certain that she wants to leave Washington when she's done. It's something that she's planned on talking about when she goes home during Christmas break. Sure Washington is much colder than sunny California but she likes it here even if her family and friends aren't here. She's made new friends and has already started looking into graduate school.

Jenny quickly enters the house and she decides on going to bed early. She's tired and cold, no doubt from the long hours that she had worked this week at the library and from studying in preparation for the exams that start on Monday. She enters her bedroom and without turning on the light, she quickly strips her clothes off and changes into her flannel pajamas. When she lies down in her bed, Jenny falls asleep almost immediately and she dreams of ice and shadows and hungry eyes that belong to evil misshapen creatures with beautiful voices that whisper to her.

* * *

She's not quite sure what wakes her but she lies in the dark straining to hear a nonexistent noise. After a few moments, Jenny sits up before she stands and makes her way to the bathroom. She can't recall what she dreamt of but she's filled with a sense of unease that she can't seem to shake. The house is quiet and there's a chill in the air. When she's finished in the bathroom, instead of returning to her bedroom Jenny heads to the kitchen, deciding that a glass of milk will help her sleep.

The minute that she walks into the kitchen, Jenny instinctively knows that something is wrong. She knows that she won't be able to make it to the counter where the knives sit in their wooden block, yet she still attempts it. The shadowy figure moves as she does and its arms wrap around her torso just as she reaches the counter. There is something familiar about the arms that are holding her tight and the torso that she is pressed up against.

It takes her a moment before she hears the voice above the pounding of her heart.

“Jenny.”

It's barely a whisper but she knows it even if her memory of it is all wrong. She stops struggling and she is suddenly calm. The arms relax around her and she turns slightly to face the person holding her.

“Julian?”

Her hand is on his chest and she can feel his heartbeat. She doesn't know how it's even possible, not when he had faded away when the other Shadow Men had taken him as their sacrifice and had removes his name from the rune staff over five years ago.

“How?” Jenny asks, needing to know how the impossible is now possible.

Later, she's not sure how they end up in her living room on the couch beside one another in the dim light of a lamp with a cup of tea each in their hands. She listens to Julian's tale silent as she takes in the differences in him. His hair is still light blonde, almost white in the light of the one lamp, and his eyes are still a brilliant blue but somehow he's different. He's still very exotic but there's something missing that Jenny can't quite put her finger on.

His story seems unbelievable, even for someone who's lived through the unbelievable before. It seems that after he had faded away in her arms, Julian had awoken up elsewhere without a memory of whom or what he was. The elsewhere was a sterile hospital room where he had supposedly been in a coma for some time.

He had awoken in May of 1994 of who he had once been or who was supposed to be. The doctors and nurses had told him that he had been in a car accident with his parents five years earlier and had been the only survivor of that accident. When he was released from the hospital, he had gone to live with an uncle, his only living relative. His uncle was a rich eccentric fascinated with mythology and who provided his nephew with tutors who helped to fill in the gaps of his education.

Julian had had no desire for university and since he didn't really need to work, he ended up volunteering at an animal shelter since he felt more at ease with animals with humans. He never regained the memories of who he was supposed to be. It was as if his life had started the moment he had woken up in a hospital bed. He had woken up with a strange hollow feeling as if something was missing in his life and his life passed by in a series of empty days until a few hours ago when he had remembered Jenny and his love for her.

It didn't take Jenny long to realize that Julian had no memory of anything else. He had remembered her and had gotten in his car automatically and just drove until he found himself at her house. The next thing that he knew he was standing inside of her kitchen waiting for her. When she tried to tell him who he had been, he had silenced her.

“I don't think that I want to know. I have a strange memory of ice, shadows and a terrible hunger. I don't want to know any more than that.”

She nods at his words and she thinks that maybe it's for the best that he doesn't know just how cruel he once was. He stands up, his movement fluid, and she follows suit. In the moment that follows, Jenny decides that tomorrow she will call Tom and end the farce of a relationship that they have. She realizes now that she had to save Tom from Julian and the Shadow World. It was more than just about the love she had for Tom; instead she realizes that she was never meant to be Julian's Queen. If she had given up on Tom and stayed in Julian's former world then she would have become misshapen and evil just like the other Shadow Men were.

Julian looks at her, uncertain, and she leans up on her tiptoes and places a chase kiss on his lips. He groans as he pulls her closes and kisses her. The kiss is fierce and full of his desperation and their mutual need. When they pull apart, Jenny leads him to her bedroom and all thoughts of Tom are gone.

Her hands slide under the heavy wool sweater that he's wearing and Jenny can feel his need, desperation and hesitancy. She knows that he's afraid to touch her; afraid that if he does she'll fade away, so Jenny moves again and kisses him. His hands grip her shoulders when she deepens the kiss. Julian allows her to take control, for her to guide him and for her to set the pace.

“Jenny.”

Her name is a hoarse whisper as it falls from his lips. The sound of it reverent and desperate. For the first time since the early dawn hours in her grandfather's house in Pennsylvania, Jenny feels like she's home.

They fall onto her bed in a tangle of limbs, their mouths meeting in a series of hungry kisses. Julian leans up on his arms and gazes down at her with a wistful expression in his eyes. He cups her face with his right hand before kissing her again and her hands grip his slim hips tightly as she pulls him closer and closer.

* * *

She's lying awake, safe in the circle of his strong arms. Parts of her are pleasantly sore and she's grateful to whatever magic that brought Julian to her. She doesn't question it because Jenny knows deep in her heart to question it would only be dangerous.

“I'll be here when you wake up in the morning,” Julian tells her, his voice muffled against the curve of her shoulder where he places a kiss.

Jenny sighs in contentment and wishes that they'd never have to leave her bed again.

“I know,” Jenny finally replies.
“Then go to sleep.”

“I just don't want this moment to end.”
“We'll have more just like them.”
“Promise?” Jenny asks.

“I promise,” Julian replies, his voice solemn.

“Good.”

**END**

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