Rules

Rules is the femslash ship between Rue Bennett and Jules Vaugh from the Euphoria fandom.

Season 1
Rue and Jules met each other at the end of summer when Jules had recently moved to town. On her way back home, in the car, Rue saw a girl riding her bike, and she stared at her intensely. Back then, she didn't know that girl was Jules. Later, when Rue talks to Fezco, he tells her that there's this new girl in town that as soon as he saw her, he thought could be "somebody Rue would get along with", referring to Jules.

However, the two of them formally meet at a house party, moments after Rue sees Jules pulling a knife on Nate to protect herself from his intense verbal harassments. Rue follows Jules outside the house and asks her if she's ok, introducing herself. After Jules introduces herself as well, Rue asks if she can go home with her. So the two of them bike back to Jules’s house. In Jules' bedroom, Rue tends to her wound and then lies next to her on her bed. Then, Rue suggests doing drugs, although Jules is a bit hesitant since Rue just got out of rehab, but they do it anyway since Rue insists there's nothing.

Two days later, the two of them became inseparable. As soon as Rue spots Jules arriving at school, she thinks to herself "first day of school, my heart was racing. I made a new friend for the first time since getting out of rehab, and was feeling good about the world." And when Rue was kind of scared of the comments she would get after getting out of rehab, Jules grabs her hand and accompanies her to class, supporting her. After school, the two of them ride their bikes back, and laugh together. And Rue asks Jules if she can come over to her house on Sunday, since her mom keeps asking her about Jules. This shocks Jules, who flirtatiously asks Rue if she's already talking to her mom about her, which makes Rue get flustered. Later in the day, however, Fezco calls Jules asking for help with Rue who just relapsed. Crying sorrowfully, Jules caresses Rue's hair on the way to her house. And the two of them cuddle in her bed. When Jules and Rue wake up, Jules expresses her concern for Rue’s frequent post-rehab drug use and sets an ultimatum that will come to be a crucial component of their relationship throughout the show: their friendship can only continue if Rue stays clean. Rue then makes the promise to Jules that she will remain clean.

After days spent together, Rue starts realizing she's falling in love with Jules. But Jules shares with her that she thinks she is in love with some guy she's texting, which is Nate, but she didn't know at the time. So when Jules tells Rue that she wants to share some "partial nudes" to this guy, she goes to Jules' house to help her take the pictures. But the whole situation turns really awkward when Jules gets on top of her and asks her if she looks sexy, because Rue finds it really hard to hide her attraction. After the photo session is over, Jules asks Rue if she has been sober for two weeks. When Rue dismisses her enthusiasm with a simple "yeah", Jules showers her in kisses, congratulating her. And as Rue stares at her, she thinks "I've never met anyone in my entire life like Jules."

Things start getting bad once again for Rue when she starts getting depressed after Jules doesn't reply to her messages, so she turns to doing drugs again. The next day, Jules excitedly shares that she will meet with the guy she texts frequently, in person. Rue immediately expresses her apprehensions, because she's worried about Jules' safety, which results in a small fight. Feeling guilty, Rue shows up at Jules’ house and apologizes, breaking down. She tells Jules that she doesn't want anything bad happening to her, because she's the best thing that happened to her in a while. The two of them rest their foreheads against the other's, and Jules tells Rue that she hates everyone else in the world but her. However, Rue then leans in to kiss Jules. And when she doesn’t reciprocate, Rue leaves the room in a storm of hurt.

Despite their previous drama, the two of them reunite at the town carnival, where Jules runs to give Rue a hug as soon as she sees her, and then acts like nothing ever happened. However, Rue’s sister is convinced their bond is more than a friendship when she tells Rue's childhood friend, Lexi, that “Rue is in love with Jules, I think.” After the carnival, where Jules helps Rue find her little sister, Rue goes to her home. But in the middle of the night, Jules comes knocking on her window and asks Rue to let her sleep with her. Rue gets worried when she sees Jules very sad, and as the two of them cuddle, Rue keeps asking her if she's ok. Right then and there, the two of them share their first passionate kiss together.

After Jules leaves, Rue can't stop thinking about her and about the fact Jules is the best thing she has ever known aside from drugs, which is why she'll be choosing her over drugs for the meantime. As she was getting aroused thinking about Jules, Rue's mom comes knocking on her door telling her dinner was ready. At the dinner table, she asks her about Jules one more time, and then asks her if they are in a relationship, to which Rue replies "yeah, kind of." So her mom replies that she really likes her.

After Rue finds out that Jules has been with Nate's dad, some tension starts building between the two of them. Jules starts thinking Rue hates her, which Rue is quick to reassure her that she will never hate her, no matter what. Rue also shares with Jules that she has never been in love with anyone, and that the only person she has ever kissed was her childhood best friend, Lexi, only to help her practice for a date. The girls also start realizing just how important the two of them are to each other. During one of her rehab sessions, Rue mentions that there's "this girl" that she genuinely has helped her wanting to remain clean. While Jules talks to her dad about Rue, getting flustered when he starts questioning her if they are "a thing." However, when Jules starts feeling the pressure of the fact Rue's entire recovery is dependent on her, she starts getting really anxious.

On Halloween, the girls go to a party, only for Jules to get overwhelmingly drunk. Her carelessness prompts feelings of unease in Rue, who is still struggling to remain sober. At one point, Jules is so drunk that she falls into the pool. Rue goes to her and when she catches her, Jules starts reciting some Shakespeare poetry to her. Rue knows she's drunk so she asks her to get out of the pool, but Jules pulls her into the pool with her instead, and kisses her underwater. Rue can't stop feeling anxious about her relationship with Jules, and is overwhelmed with her withdrawal syndrome. But things just get worse when she realizes how Jules stares at night during the party.

After Halloween, Jules stopped going to school for a whole week and didn't reply to any of Rue's messages, so she started to feel like something really bad happened, that was somehow her fault. After Rue starts suspecting Jules was being taken advantage of by Nate, she starts feeling deeply worried and depressed. Meanwhile, Jules heads back to her hometown to escape the tensions with Nate. She undergoes a drug-fueled night out, where she ends up growing close to and eventually kissing a girl named Anna, that she can't stop imagining as Rue. While Rue is bedridden in a depressive state, unaware of Jules’ actions.

When they reunite for a school dance, Jules helps Rue get ready for the dance. But while doing so, she shares with her all about Anna and how she was "so amazing", which seems to hurt Rue deeply, although she tries not to show it. Throughout the night, Jules frequently texts Anna only to reveal she is in love with both girls, upsetting Rue. When she finishes helping Rue get ready, she hugs her from behind, telling her how beautiful she looks. During the dance at school, however, Jules keeps messaging Anna. Which makes Rue suspicious of her so she follows Jules to the bathroom, where she asks Rue why she doesn't "kiss kiss" her.

While they both dance together on the dancefloor, Rue stares angrily at Nate, flipping him off. And when she sees him go out, she follows him angrily, warning him and his dad to leave Jules alone. However, before he leaves, Nate tries to mess with Rue's insecurities by telling her that Jules will end up leaving her, not even remembering who she is. This deeply affects Rue, who asks Jules if she really loves her and if she wished she was different. Jules seems taken aback by this question, since she tells Rue that she would never wish that. After a passionate kiss, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, Rue and Jules decide to leave the dance and hop on a train to flee their small town.

As they walk to the station, however, Rue starts having second thoughts, thinking about her family and that this is not such a good idea. So as the train starts leaving, Rue decides to stay behind. Jules remains on the train, crying intensely, leaving Rue on the platform, deeply depressed as well, and flooded with her memories of the moments she spent with Jules.

Special Episodes
Rue reveals that she blames Jules for her relapse at the end of Season 1. She feels lied to and manipulated, with the tipping point being their separation at the train station. And also dreams of what her future with Jules could've been, waking up together, sharing an apartment and being overall domestic. In Jules’ episode, during her talk with a therapist, it's revealed that her apprehension towards Rue’s drug addiction was a byproduct of her mother’s addiction, which she was dealing with at the same time she was with Rue. Having a meltdown, Jules shares with her therapist that she had a nightmare where she was living with Rue in the future, and came home to find Rue overdosed on the bathroom floor.

The two finally reunite at the end of Jules’ special episode when Rue stops by her house to wish her a merry Christmas. Jules takes this opportunity to apologize for her actions, but before Rue can accept, she tearfully exits the room, and the two are separated once again.

Behind the Scenes
"Rue and Jules is a relationship about pure love. Meeting Jules was love at first sight for Rue. I think the first time she sees her, she’s like, ‘I have to be in this girl’s life.’ That’s why she invites herself to her house. It’s beautiful to watch Hunter (who plays Jules) because this was her first acting job. I’m just lucky to be able to be part of that really special love story that hasn’t been told or seen before."

- Zendaya talking about Rules.

"One of the very special things about this second episode is the fact that we get to see a lot of Season 1 and of moments between Rue and Jules through Jules’ eyes. Jules was dealing with a lot of other things that Rue didn’t know about and that us as an audience didn’t know about. There was a lack of empathy and understanding for her side of the story. Jules was dealing with a lot and Rue was not helping with that. I think it was important that people understand what Jules was actually going through. They offer a lot of beautiful things to each other, but they also offer a lot of not-so-beautiful things to each other. There’s a lot of toxicity there as well. But that doesn’t erase the real, raw, just pure love that they have for each other."

- Zendaya on Rules' relationship in Season 2.

"Rue and Jules share a really pure relationship outside of their issues. It didn’t feel like Rue was projecting anything onto her, I think it felt like they could just be present with each other. And just feel seen."

- Hunter Schafer

Fanon
Rules is one of the more popular ships within the Euphoria fandom. It's also loved by those looking for trans rep, and canon relationships for trans characters. On AO3, Rules is the most written ship for both Jules and Rue. It is also the second most written ship in the Euphoria (TV 2019) tag.

Fans of the ship have found many similarities between Rue and Jule's relationship and Romeo and Juliet from Shakespeare's story.
 * Both their names bear a striking resemblance to the characters from the play, Rue (Romeo), and Jules (Juliet).
 * In the show's Halloween episode, Rue and Jules referenced Romeo and Juliet in their costume choices. During the Halloween episode, Jules dressed up as Claire Danes’ angel-winged Juliet from the masquerade scene in Baz Luhrmann’s "Romeo + Juliet." While Rue dressed similarly to Leonardo DiCaprio's "Titanic" character, Jack Dawson, from the scene where he dresses up in a suit and goes into first class to talk with Rose's friends. Rue's costume is significant considering that DiCaprio starred alongside Danes in "Romeo + Juliet."
 * In the same episode, Jules recites one of Juliet's lines from Act II to Rue.

Fandom
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Trivia

 * Rue and Jules have matching tattoos of their names combined, "RULES," on the inside of their lips.