What did it feel the first time you fell in love?

She thought that falling in love would be like what Spoon said. That the world would look grey and muted without him around. That it would mean she’d know she could live without that other person but she wouldn’t want to. That she’d grow her hair out and agree to vegetarian pizza and all of that stuff. It was the best description she ever had of love, one that came straight from a living, breathing person rather than a book.

And, at the very least, it had made as much sense as anything else she had been told about human relationships. This was to say, it made very little sense at all.

The first time Jenny fell in love there was no bursts of colours and sounds. There wasn’t any decision that she could live with or without him, there wasn’t any declarations of sacrifice. There was only exhilaration, pure and simple.

It reminded Jenny very much of the first time she ran, following after her Dad and Donna in the narrow corridors of Messaline while General Cobb and his troops chased after them. The rush and the freedom and the adrenaline pumping through her veins: that was what running was. And it turned out, that was what love was, too.

Love was their shared laughter as they ran together away from the face of danger.

Bart, always faster, kept circling back to make sure she kept up. His eyes shone with the same thrill Jenny knew was echoed in her own. Laser bolts from the Judoon mercenaries (what was it with these guys, he had asked) hired by the Slitheen ricocheted off passing vehicles and buildings. It might not have been the most romantic scene, ducking into an alleyway as they hurried to find the door back to Milliways, but it was theirs.

She bit her lip not to giggle when Bart pushed her back against a wall, pressing his body flush against hers in an attempt to hide them both in the shadows. The loud stomps of Judoon on the pursuit began to grow fainter as they ran straight past the narrow alleyway. Jenny laughed in relief, hoarse and painful from the past half hour of running.

“Think we made it?”

“Yeah,” he replied, voice calm and soothing. Running never took its toll with. Bart grinned back at her, smug and sure. “I think we showed those overgrown rhinoceroses a thing or two.”

Jenny nodded, giggling again. She let her gun (rarely shot but always carried) fall to the ground and slung her arms around his neck. The excitement of the run hadn’t left her yet. Her hearts were still beating too rapidly, her lungs strained to breathe. Then she realized that love, perhaps, could be mistaken for many things. Love, maybe, was an awful lot like running.

She laughed again and kissed him. Bart grew confused, making that face she had grown to - to love - so much. The world hadn’t stopped, hadn’t grown or shrunk in any way. Everything was exactly the same as it was when they met four months ago, minus the new knowledge in her hearts. Jenny kissed him again before he had a chance to question, a kiss with more passion and more glee than she ever thought possible.

Further laughter caught in her throat as her hands began to claw at his trousers. Bart caught on fast enough, digging out a rubber from his back pocket as their lips continued their assault. Chapter sixteen of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amazing Sex, Second Edition had come in more than handy on adventures. In fact, she rather liked to think they had perfected the art of the quickie. It was one of those facts Jenny was quite proud of, much to Bart’s embarrassment.

“I love you,” she whispered when all was said and done. In the midst of straightening out her ponytail, Jenny had spoken without realizing. Her blue eyes widened with surprise much at the same time Bart’s did. Even in the darkness, she was certain her blush could be seen. “Oh! I mean. Um. Bart-”

“It’s okay, Gorgeous,” Bart answered, coming closer to steal a quick kiss. “I kind of love you, too.”

Three little words and her heart truly did go all a flutter. Adrenaline and excitement and freedom rushed through her system and Jenny felt as if she truly had ran another ten metres just now. But she hadn’t. She had only found herself in love.