The Problem with Libraries

Disclaimer:Characters owned by the WB/CW.
Rating: PG
Summary:"Can you recommend a good book?" He owns a bookstore. She shares her hatred of libraries. It's all because of fate, really.

It must be fate, Rory Gilmore thought as she caught her breath in the window of a quaint bookshop in Manhattan. But, what was he doing in the city?

Last she had heard, courtesy of Luke, he was still in Philadelphia, promoting Truncheon Books with his two friends. And now, here was his bookstore- three blocks east of her city apartment. Mariano Books. She chuckled lightly at the sign that hung below the Open sign- Ayn Rand Lovers Beware.

At first, she hadn't been sure it was his. But what boy had a dislike for Ayn Rand, loved the city, loved books and went by the last name Mariano? Not many, she was sure.

Her suspicions were granted true when she glanced through the window to see a brown-haired, fairly tall man reading lazily at the counter, ignoring his shoppers. Unless they stopped to ask a question or pay, he kept to himself.

She cautiously stepped into the small store, the ding above the door signaling a new shopper. He didn't even look up. Deciding not to disturb him, she brushed her bangs out of her face as she walked through the few aisles that adorned the store.

She stifled back a chuckle at a large section dedicated to Hemingway. Oh, the irony. When she got to the Classics section, which happened to be the largest, she smiled at the lonely, one copy of The Fountainhead. Flipping through it, her heart stopped when she noticed her own writing in the margins. How many years ago had she written him these cliff notes in return for her Hemingway, filled with his sloppy scrawl?

Wondering why no one had dared buy the single copy, Rory turned the book over, her face softening immediately. The tiny words on a sticker made her heart stop- not for sale. Picking it up, she held it tightly to her chest as she browsed the rest of the store.

As she made her way to the register with the one book in hand, she was stopped by a familiar man who looked about her age. "Excuse me, miss. I don't think that book's for sale," he smiled gently, gesturing to the book clutched in her hand.

She grinned in return. "That's funny, because it used to be mine," she said confidently, eyeing him up and down.

"You're Matt," she observed from pictures Luke had shown of his nephew's new life. "You ran Truncheon with Jess."

Matt smirked. "That is me. But now we're here. I think the question is why are you here, Rory? And what gives you the right to buy the book?" he challenged.

Rory did not bother to ask him how he knew her name. She simply smiled again. "Like I said, it's my book," she said before continuing her walk to the counter.

She tapped her finger lightly against the wooden counter, alerting Jess that someone was there. Indeed.

His brown eyes glanced up to meet a warm blue he hadn't seen in years. Immediately straightening up, he offered her a soft smirk. "What are you doing here?"

"Fixing things," she stated shortly, grinning. She put the book on the counter. "How much will it be?"

"Not for sale," he mumbled, pushing it back into her hands. "Jesus, Rory. I haven't seen you in years."

Rory smiled shyly. "Three years," she reminded him. "Can we be friends?" she asked softly, patiently awaiting his answer. Last time she'd seen him, she had pushed him away because she 'didn't love him, but someone else'. She couldn't blame him if he did the same.

Jess shrugged. "Whatever you want. But you can't have the book," he looked down and grinned slightly to himself.

Rory looked at him incredulously. "It's my book," she said indignantly, her head raised high.

"I recall you gave it to me. I rightfully bought you a new copy. This one is mine," Jess told her factually, removing it and storing it under the counter.

"You're seriously not going to let me have the book?" Rory asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Rory, Rory, Rory. I thought we went over that you can't get everything you want," he smirked that annoying smirk she suddenly despised.

Glaring playfully at him, she shook her head, her brown curls cascading her face. "You're evil, Mariano. Evil," she said.

"And you're still naïve, Gilmore," he replied easily, finding himself caught up in their old banter. "You are still a Gilmore, aren't you?" he asked suddenly, his breath caught in his throat.

Rory smiled at him torturously. After a moment, she sighed. "And to think you were over me," she giggled. She held up her empty, flawless pale hand and he breathed a sigh in relief.

"I don't know if I'll ever be over you," he said truthfully in the most nonchalant tone, not even glancing at her as he said it.

"I have a question," he said.

Rory breathed in deeply. This was it- he was going to ask her something completely life-changing and make her life even more difficult than it already was. "Why are you here?"

That was unexpected, to say the least. Rory looked bewildered at the simplicity of the question. Finally, she found her voice. "Oh. Um, I live a few blocks away and I needed to find a good book to read. And, there are a lot of Barnes and Nobles and libraries in the city, but no place quite like the one I've discovered today. And well, I really don't care for new books. You know, in most book stores and libraries, the books are always well-kept and have a gorgeous binding and are so pretty that I'm afraid to read them. I like my copies old and tattered and read at least forty times," she stopped, letting all the breath rush out of her as she realized she was rambling. She hadn't done that in years.

"Specifically forty, huh?" he teased, and when she didn't respond, he relented. "So, basically, you hate libraries."

Rory nodded. "Well, we don't even have any new books here. So, look around," Jess said casually before turning back to the book he had previously been reading- The Sun Also Rises.

Rory scrunched her nose up, but did not walk away from the counter. "Can you recommend a good book?" she asked quietly.

Jess smirked. She hadn't asked him that since they were dating. He placed his book in her palm. "On the house."

Rory shook her head wildly. "I'll pay. But not for that. I don't want that piece of crap," she shook her head disappointedly at the book in her hand.

"Well, you're not getting the other one," he told her knowingly. "It's not for sale."

Suddenly, Rory couldn't stand him- smirking, hiding her book, mocking her…she utterly hated Jess Mariano once again. "I despise you," were the last words that left her mouth before she had crushed her lips to his, right over the goddamn counter.

As he guided her around the counter to where he was sitting, he slipped the copy of The Fountainhead into her jacket pocket. "I have a whole box of your old books upstairs," he smirked, kissing her before she got the chance to respond.

Cheeks flushed and hair wild, she smiled. "Show me upstairs, then."

"As you wish."

Author's Notes: Why does this one-shot sound so much worse than when I typed it? Jesus. Hope you enjoyed it, at least. Was it too cliché? Review, please!

The prompt was: "Can you recommend a good book?"