[Gilmore Girls] Never Too Late (Rory/Paris)
META/Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, etc. etc. etc. And yeah, I know that Lorelai and Rory were going to be heading to Europe after Rory graduated, and that Paris likely had her own post-grad plans, so let's just pretend that they finished all that already, okay? They would need a week or three to get everything together, right? Okay, then. On with the fic!
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Stars Hollow was not, perhaps, the most exciting town in existence. In fact, boring wouldn't really be out of place in describing it. Somewhat insulting to those that lived there, perhaps, but applicable none the less. It had its own charm, to be certain, but someone more used to city life - and a fast-paced schedule - would be very unlikely to feel it.
So, what was one Paris Geller doing there at seven in the morning, ringing a certain doorbell?
Simple. Rory had asked her to be there. Granted, Yale was still a month away (and the Gilmores *had* been packing), but Rory wanted a second opinion as she over everything again, and make sure she had everything she needed *right now*. For her part, Paris had been ready since before they'd graduated from Chilton (not that this allowed her to slow down and relax - a waste of time, as far as she was concerned). That was likely why Rory had asked for her help. And it really just took *sooooo much* convicing to get Paris to agree to spend the whole day with her, after all.
Paris sighed as she waited for someone to answer the door. Half a dozen times on the way over she'd almost convinced herself that this would be a perfect time to tell Rory how she felt. But no matter what line of reasoning she used, she kept running into the same stumbling block: she just couldn't do it. Even if she set aside the fact that she had NO IDEA how Rory would react to the idea, she just somehow *knew* that nothing good would come of the admission. She never got anything she really wanted, anything that would make her *happy*. And Rory Gilmore could make her happier than anything else on the planet. She'd long ago resigned herself to a lifetime of lonliness. Rory's friendship made it more tolerable, and Paris wasn't about to do anything to jeoperdize that.
Her musings were cut short by the door to reveal a smiling Lorelai Gilmore. Paris mustered up a small smile in response. She was somewhat bemused by Rory's mother, never entirely sure what to make of her. She was funny, really nice, and smarter than a lot of people gave her credit for. On the other hand, she was also occasionally nonsensical, incredibly stubborn (according to Rory), and she had - initially, at least - seemed to dislike Paris considerably. Which, Paris had been forced to admit, wasn't unjustified on Lorelai's part, given how she'd been treating the woman's daughter. But Lorelai seemed to have warmed up to her, and Paris kind of enjoyed knowing that at least *someone's* mother gave a damn about her. "Good morning."
"Morning, Paris," she said, bustling the girl inside and shutting the door behind her, then steering her towards the kitchen. "You're right on time - well, actually a little early, but close enough. I was just getting ready to head out for the day, so you two'll be on your own for lunch. Rory has my cell number, if you need to get hold of me for any reason." She barely paused for breath as she sat a slightly confused Paris down at the table, then got herself a cup of coffee. The fact that she was almost certainly going to be heading to Luke's before she headed to the Dragonfly - Paris didn't know just how much work it took to get an inn fixed up, but it certainly seemed to be keeping Lorelai busy - didn't seem to occur to her. No, Paris thought with a mental smirk, she doesn't have a problem... "Rory's just getting out of the shower right now-" Paris missed the next part of what Lorelai was saying as she tried desperately to steer her mind away from the image of a wet, naked Rory. She could feel her face growing warm. She tuned back in as Lorelai was saying, "-eed anything else, you can always check with Luke." She paused, then asked, "Paris? Are you okay? You look a bit flushed."
"W-what? Oh, no, I'm fine." Before the other woman could press her any further, she countered with, "Luke, he's the guy that runs that diner, right? I remember him. I also seem to remember Rory telling me that you usually go there in the morning for coffee." She directed a look at Lorelai's mug.
"That's him, all right. And yeah, I usually do stop there, but I don't have time this morning, sadly. You *must* try his coffee some time."
Paris smirked. "Well, if I *must*..."
"Oh, you must," Lorelai said with a mock-serious expression. "It's one of the town's laws now, you know. Just got passed last week."
A snicker. "I wouldn't be at all surprised."
For a moment, there was a peaceful silence. Which was broken by a contemplative, "I'm glad you and my daughter are getting along better these days."
Paris blinked. "Ummm... thanks. So am I." Where was the elder Gilmore going with this?
As it turned out, she was doing what she usually did - cutting through to the heart of the matter. "So? When are you going to tell her?"
"Tell her what?" No, she couldn't mean...
"When are you going to tell Rory how you feel?"
Oh, damn, she *did* mean that. "I don't... I don't know what you mean," Paris said, not meeting the woman's gaze. Maybe if she wished really hard, the subject would be dropped? Yeah, right.
"Who do you think you're kidding? Why don't you just kiss her and tell her you love her? Get it over with?"
For a moment, Paris was too astonished to do more than gape openly. Eventually, she managed to ask, "Wha...? How did you...?"
For the first time in a while, Lorelai seemed to be perfectly serious. "I long ago learned what the signs of hidden crushes are. I also know my daughter, and you should tell her. Believe me, she's not about to laugh at you, or whatever it is that you think that's stopping you."
"... and would she love me?" Paris whispered.
Lorelai shot her a sympathetic look. "I don't know. I can't answer that question for you. Only she can. I *can* tell you this, however: I've never seen her talk about someone, worry about their opinion, or try to impress them as much as she does with you. And while she's never said anything about being attracted to other girls... Well, I've seen her checking you out, a couple times."
For some reason, Paris suddenly had trouble breathing. "You... have?" she choked out. How had *she* missed that?
Lorelai grinned. "Yeah, I have. And as weird as my baby girl liking another girl may be to me, I'll get over it, and it's obvious she likes you. So ask her out, already."
"Wait a minute. Why are you pushing me so hard on this, if you find it so 'weird'?"
A sigh. "Because I can tell that you'd do anything to make Rory happy, and that's all I want."
"I would- I mean, I will, but I can't just-"
"Oh, what do you want, an open declaration of love before you make *any* kind of move?" she asked, getting exhasperated.
Paris frowned in thought, then suddenly grinned herself as she thought about something Rory had mentioned on more than one occasion. If it didn't at least make Lorelai stop talking about this, it might at least make the potential humiliation worth it. "Okay, tell you what: I'll make a deal with you."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. If I tell Rory how I feel, then *you* have to ask Luke out on a date. And make sure he *knows* that it's a date. And that you're interested."
For the first time in all the time Paris had known her, she was treated to the sight of Lorelai Gilmore shocked speechless. "Ex- excuse me?"
"Please. You think Rory hasn't told me about how close you two are? And if there's anyone who knows what someone who doesn't want to admit their feelings looks like, it's me."
"Just because we're close-"
"Why do you think that, when you went to go tell him you were engaged to Mr. Medina, something like half the town showed up to watch? Yeah, Rory told me about that. Evidently, you two are the only ones who haven't noticed." A smirk. "So, do we have a deal?" She held out her hand.
Lorelai stared at it for a long moment, likely trying to figure out whether or not Paris was right. Finally, she took it.
"Deal."
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It wasn't until sometime after noon that the girls managed to slow down enough to call for some takeout Chinese. "I thought you said you'd gotten some packing done before this," Paris said archly as she lifted a forkful of Lo Mein to her mouth.
"We did!" Rory knew she sounded a bit defensive, but couldn't help it. "But you've obviously never tried packing for something with my mother. She would have had me taking three times as much stuff as I'd need."
"And to think, we haven't even tackled your books yet."
Rory sighed. "How am I supposed to pick which ones I don't want to bring? I need them all."
"You don't *need* them, Gilmore. They're books. You *like* them. And you *are* going to be coming back every weekend, aren't you? Just exchange some every now and then."
"I guess that's true," Rory said, brightening. Paris felt a warm glow at having caused that lovely smile to appear. "Thanks."
"Not a problem."
They finished their meal in relative quiet, save for a little pre-Yale conjecturing. Rory thought that Paris seemed more nervous about it than she did, but attributed it to the other girl's - was anxiety too strong a word? - about new experiences. She *hated* it when anything threw off her Plan, as Rory knew all too well. She had occasionally been *sooooo* tempted to provide one that would totally throw Paris off-balance, but had decided that doing so would be rather mean, all things considered. So she'd just resisted the impulses, burying them deep enough so that they wouldn't cause any damage.
Eventually, the two of them moved upstairs to Rory's bedroom to look through her books. After about an hour of that, Paris flopped down on one of the few spots that wasn't covered in novels: the bed. "Jeez, Gilmore. I knew you liked to read, but..."
Rory, smiling sheepishly, sat down near her. "I know, I know. But you see the problem, right?"
"The fact that a good number of these could be used as deadly weapons?"
"Well, I once read that Neil Gaiman's definition of true art was the ability to stun a burgler with it," Rory replied with a grin. "But you know full well that's not what I meant."
Paris grinned back at her, wishing that the moment could just go on forever. "Yeah, yeah. You couldn't fit this many books in a dorm room even if you had it all to yourself, rather than just half of it."
Rory nodded, sobering slightly. "I know. That's gonna be weird. I've never shared a room with anyone for that long."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be a good roommate to whoever you'll end up with. I certainly enjoyed rooming with you that summer in Washington."
"Thanks, but you're kind of biased. Besides, I already knew you ahead of time. This is different."
Biased? Did she mean...? But no, it wasn't the time to get into *that* just yet. "Maybe, but you make friends with people faster than anyone I've ever seen."
"Oh?" Rory asked, her voice taking on a teasing quality. "And just who are you comparing me to? Louise and Madeline? I do believe that I'm insulted by that. And don't forget, I had to room with you, too. Not the easiest of tasks."
Paris smirked at her and edged closer. "Are you saying I'm not a good roommate?"
"No, not at all. You're a great one... if you want someone who never talks to you."
"Oh, now I'm hard to get along with, am I?"
"I don't think I should answer that question. It might incriminate me."
"I think I might *tickle* you if you keep this up."
A corner of Rory's mouth started edging up. "You wouldn't dare."
A low chuckle. "Oh, Gilmore, you should know better by now than to challenge me like that..."
Rory blinked. "Now, Paris, let's-" Whatever else she was about to say was cut off as Paris practically tackled her and proceeded to carry out her threat. In short order she found that Rory was deathly ticklish just under her ribs.
The few books that had been on the bed were quickly knocked off by Rory as she thrashed around helplessly, laughing hysterically. Dammit, how had Paris found her worst spot that fast? In a desperate attempt to stop her, Rory wrapped her arms around Paris and pulling her close enough that her hands were pinned tightly under her body. As she regained her breath, she looked into Paris's eyes triumphently, their faces now about an inch apart.
It wasn't until Paris inhaled sharply and stiffened that Rory realized how big a mistake she'd just made. She knew the girl had a crush on her, so what did she do? She pulled her into a hug so tight it was practically a lovers' embrace. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Meanwhile, lurking in the back of her mind somewhere, unnoticed, was the observation that she was focusing so much on her self-recrimination so that she wouldn't notice the way her body was reacting to Paris's proxemity.
For her part, Paris was being overwhelmed by sensory input, and the temptation to cross that last inch of space between her lips and Rory's was almost more than she could bear. "Rory..." She began in a choked-up voice, "I-I..." It finally sunk in that Rory was breathing as rapidly as she was. "A-are you...?" Rory finally let her go, and after just a few moments longer than necessary she edged away. For a long time they just sat there, each trying to get their thoughts together. Finally, Paris managed to say, "I think... we need... to talk."
"Yeah, I guess we do."
After another minute of silence, it became clear to Paris that she was going to have to speak first. "Well, I guess it's rather obvious by now that I like you." She paused to clear her throat and continued, "I'm not very good at... well, I don't have a lot of experience with... talking about how I feel, you know? But I l... I lo... Dammit! Rory, I-I..."
Rory moved closer, taking Paris' hand in her own and rubbing it gently. "It's okay, Paris. You don't have to say it. I think I know how you feel."
"But if I don't say it now...! Wait, you knew?"
"I suspected, anyway." Anticipating Paris's next question, she said, "Ever since that time in Washington when I heard you, erm, talking about me in your sleep..."
"...oh." Paris could tell she was blushing again, so she began studying the bedspread. "You never said anything about it."
"I didn't want to embarrass you." Rory dropped Paris's hand and took hold of her chin, raising it until she was looking into her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what to do in this situation, but I do know that... I trust you. Now, what do you want to tell me?"
Paris took a deep breath. This was it; she'd never get a better chance than this. "I've been trying to tell you... that I love you." And screwing up every last bit of courage that she had, she crossed the remaining distance and kissed Rory.
It felt as if fireworks were going off in the back of her mind. She'd dreamed of this moment so many times that she almost couldn't believe it was actually happening. Never, in all the times that she'd pictured kissing Rory had she imagined how soft the other girl's lips would be, how perfectly the two of them would fit together.
Rory, on the other hand, nearly passed out. Paris was kissing her. Ever since she'd first gotten the idea that Paris liked her, she had, almost despite herself, tried to imagine what kissing her might be like. In fact, her imagination had occasionally run away with her, leaving her blushing furiously, especially if her mother happened to wander across her before she could calm down.
But she'd never imagined that it could feel this good.
She moved her hand up a little to carress Paris's cheek, only peripherally noting Paris mirroring her action. The rest of the world had quickly faded away for the both of them.
When asked later, neither one would ever really be able to say just how long they had sat like that before they'd broken apart, looking at each other. "I'm... not sure what to say," Rory admitted.
"I don't want you to say anything," Paris replied. "I'm not Dean. I'm not going to freak out if you don't instantly say you love me. I can wait as long as you need."
Rory gave her a relieved smile. "I'm glad to hear that, because I'm not sure how I feel yet. I mean, I do like you, obviously, but I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet. I mean, I just got out... well, I'm not sure *what* to call it, but between Jess and Dean... I'm a bit emotionally worn out, you know?"
"I suspected. But that's okay. We *do* have to figure out how we're going to make this work, especially with Yale coming up, but we have time."
"Yeah, we do." Rory suddenly grinned mischieviously. "But I do know what I want to do next."
Suspecting where this was going, Paris felt her own lips pulling up into a smile. "Oh?"
"Yep. I want to kiss you again."
"No one's stopping you."
A chuckle. "Glad to hear it."
After that, there weren't any more words.
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How will Stars Hollow react to Rory's newest love interest? Paris at Friday night dinner? Will Lorelai carry out her part of the bargain? All this and more, next time!
META/Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, etc. etc. etc. And yeah, I know that Lorelai and Rory were going to be heading to Europe after Rory graduated, and that Paris likely had her own post-grad plans, so let's just pretend that they finished all that already, okay? They would need a week or three to get everything together, right? Okay, then. On with the fic!
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Stars Hollow was not, perhaps, the most exciting town in existence. In fact, boring wouldn't really be out of place in describing it. Somewhat insulting to those that lived there, perhaps, but applicable none the less. It had its own charm, to be certain, but someone more used to city life - and a fast-paced schedule - would be very unlikely to feel it.
So, what was one Paris Geller doing there at seven in the morning, ringing a certain doorbell?
Simple. Rory had asked her to be there. Granted, Yale was still a month away (and the Gilmores *had* been packing), but Rory wanted a second opinion as she over everything again, and make sure she had everything she needed *right now*. For her part, Paris had been ready since before they'd graduated from Chilton (not that this allowed her to slow down and relax - a waste of time, as far as she was concerned). That was likely why Rory had asked for her help. And it really just took *sooooo much* convicing to get Paris to agree to spend the whole day with her, after all.
Paris sighed as she waited for someone to answer the door. Half a dozen times on the way over she'd almost convinced herself that this would be a perfect time to tell Rory how she felt. But no matter what line of reasoning she used, she kept running into the same stumbling block: she just couldn't do it. Even if she set aside the fact that she had NO IDEA how Rory would react to the idea, she just somehow *knew* that nothing good would come of the admission. She never got anything she really wanted, anything that would make her *happy*. And Rory Gilmore could make her happier than anything else on the planet. She'd long ago resigned herself to a lifetime of lonliness. Rory's friendship made it more tolerable, and Paris wasn't about to do anything to jeoperdize that.
Her musings were cut short by the door to reveal a smiling Lorelai Gilmore. Paris mustered up a small smile in response. She was somewhat bemused by Rory's mother, never entirely sure what to make of her. She was funny, really nice, and smarter than a lot of people gave her credit for. On the other hand, she was also occasionally nonsensical, incredibly stubborn (according to Rory), and she had - initially, at least - seemed to dislike Paris considerably. Which, Paris had been forced to admit, wasn't unjustified on Lorelai's part, given how she'd been treating the woman's daughter. But Lorelai seemed to have warmed up to her, and Paris kind of enjoyed knowing that at least *someone's* mother gave a damn about her. "Good morning."
"Morning, Paris," she said, bustling the girl inside and shutting the door behind her, then steering her towards the kitchen. "You're right on time - well, actually a little early, but close enough. I was just getting ready to head out for the day, so you two'll be on your own for lunch. Rory has my cell number, if you need to get hold of me for any reason." She barely paused for breath as she sat a slightly confused Paris down at the table, then got herself a cup of coffee. The fact that she was almost certainly going to be heading to Luke's before she headed to the Dragonfly - Paris didn't know just how much work it took to get an inn fixed up, but it certainly seemed to be keeping Lorelai busy - didn't seem to occur to her. No, Paris thought with a mental smirk, she doesn't have a problem... "Rory's just getting out of the shower right now-" Paris missed the next part of what Lorelai was saying as she tried desperately to steer her mind away from the image of a wet, naked Rory. She could feel her face growing warm. She tuned back in as Lorelai was saying, "-eed anything else, you can always check with Luke." She paused, then asked, "Paris? Are you okay? You look a bit flushed."
"W-what? Oh, no, I'm fine." Before the other woman could press her any further, she countered with, "Luke, he's the guy that runs that diner, right? I remember him. I also seem to remember Rory telling me that you usually go there in the morning for coffee." She directed a look at Lorelai's mug.
"That's him, all right. And yeah, I usually do stop there, but I don't have time this morning, sadly. You *must* try his coffee some time."
Paris smirked. "Well, if I *must*..."
"Oh, you must," Lorelai said with a mock-serious expression. "It's one of the town's laws now, you know. Just got passed last week."
A snicker. "I wouldn't be at all surprised."
For a moment, there was a peaceful silence. Which was broken by a contemplative, "I'm glad you and my daughter are getting along better these days."
Paris blinked. "Ummm... thanks. So am I." Where was the elder Gilmore going with this?
As it turned out, she was doing what she usually did - cutting through to the heart of the matter. "So? When are you going to tell her?"
"Tell her what?" No, she couldn't mean...
"When are you going to tell Rory how you feel?"
Oh, damn, she *did* mean that. "I don't... I don't know what you mean," Paris said, not meeting the woman's gaze. Maybe if she wished really hard, the subject would be dropped? Yeah, right.
"Who do you think you're kidding? Why don't you just kiss her and tell her you love her? Get it over with?"
For a moment, Paris was too astonished to do more than gape openly. Eventually, she managed to ask, "Wha...? How did you...?"
For the first time in a while, Lorelai seemed to be perfectly serious. "I long ago learned what the signs of hidden crushes are. I also know my daughter, and you should tell her. Believe me, she's not about to laugh at you, or whatever it is that you think that's stopping you."
"... and would she love me?" Paris whispered.
Lorelai shot her a sympathetic look. "I don't know. I can't answer that question for you. Only she can. I *can* tell you this, however: I've never seen her talk about someone, worry about their opinion, or try to impress them as much as she does with you. And while she's never said anything about being attracted to other girls... Well, I've seen her checking you out, a couple times."
For some reason, Paris suddenly had trouble breathing. "You... have?" she choked out. How had *she* missed that?
Lorelai grinned. "Yeah, I have. And as weird as my baby girl liking another girl may be to me, I'll get over it, and it's obvious she likes you. So ask her out, already."
"Wait a minute. Why are you pushing me so hard on this, if you find it so 'weird'?"
A sigh. "Because I can tell that you'd do anything to make Rory happy, and that's all I want."
"I would- I mean, I will, but I can't just-"
"Oh, what do you want, an open declaration of love before you make *any* kind of move?" she asked, getting exhasperated.
Paris frowned in thought, then suddenly grinned herself as she thought about something Rory had mentioned on more than one occasion. If it didn't at least make Lorelai stop talking about this, it might at least make the potential humiliation worth it. "Okay, tell you what: I'll make a deal with you."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. If I tell Rory how I feel, then *you* have to ask Luke out on a date. And make sure he *knows* that it's a date. And that you're interested."
For the first time in all the time Paris had known her, she was treated to the sight of Lorelai Gilmore shocked speechless. "Ex- excuse me?"
"Please. You think Rory hasn't told me about how close you two are? And if there's anyone who knows what someone who doesn't want to admit their feelings looks like, it's me."
"Just because we're close-"
"Why do you think that, when you went to go tell him you were engaged to Mr. Medina, something like half the town showed up to watch? Yeah, Rory told me about that. Evidently, you two are the only ones who haven't noticed." A smirk. "So, do we have a deal?" She held out her hand.
Lorelai stared at it for a long moment, likely trying to figure out whether or not Paris was right. Finally, she took it.
"Deal."
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It wasn't until sometime after noon that the girls managed to slow down enough to call for some takeout Chinese. "I thought you said you'd gotten some packing done before this," Paris said archly as she lifted a forkful of Lo Mein to her mouth.
"We did!" Rory knew she sounded a bit defensive, but couldn't help it. "But you've obviously never tried packing for something with my mother. She would have had me taking three times as much stuff as I'd need."
"And to think, we haven't even tackled your books yet."
Rory sighed. "How am I supposed to pick which ones I don't want to bring? I need them all."
"You don't *need* them, Gilmore. They're books. You *like* them. And you *are* going to be coming back every weekend, aren't you? Just exchange some every now and then."
"I guess that's true," Rory said, brightening. Paris felt a warm glow at having caused that lovely smile to appear. "Thanks."
"Not a problem."
They finished their meal in relative quiet, save for a little pre-Yale conjecturing. Rory thought that Paris seemed more nervous about it than she did, but attributed it to the other girl's - was anxiety too strong a word? - about new experiences. She *hated* it when anything threw off her Plan, as Rory knew all too well. She had occasionally been *sooooo* tempted to provide one that would totally throw Paris off-balance, but had decided that doing so would be rather mean, all things considered. So she'd just resisted the impulses, burying them deep enough so that they wouldn't cause any damage.
Eventually, the two of them moved upstairs to Rory's bedroom to look through her books. After about an hour of that, Paris flopped down on one of the few spots that wasn't covered in novels: the bed. "Jeez, Gilmore. I knew you liked to read, but..."
Rory, smiling sheepishly, sat down near her. "I know, I know. But you see the problem, right?"
"The fact that a good number of these could be used as deadly weapons?"
"Well, I once read that Neil Gaiman's definition of true art was the ability to stun a burgler with it," Rory replied with a grin. "But you know full well that's not what I meant."
Paris grinned back at her, wishing that the moment could just go on forever. "Yeah, yeah. You couldn't fit this many books in a dorm room even if you had it all to yourself, rather than just half of it."
Rory nodded, sobering slightly. "I know. That's gonna be weird. I've never shared a room with anyone for that long."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be a good roommate to whoever you'll end up with. I certainly enjoyed rooming with you that summer in Washington."
"Thanks, but you're kind of biased. Besides, I already knew you ahead of time. This is different."
Biased? Did she mean...? But no, it wasn't the time to get into *that* just yet. "Maybe, but you make friends with people faster than anyone I've ever seen."
"Oh?" Rory asked, her voice taking on a teasing quality. "And just who are you comparing me to? Louise and Madeline? I do believe that I'm insulted by that. And don't forget, I had to room with you, too. Not the easiest of tasks."
Paris smirked at her and edged closer. "Are you saying I'm not a good roommate?"
"No, not at all. You're a great one... if you want someone who never talks to you."
"Oh, now I'm hard to get along with, am I?"
"I don't think I should answer that question. It might incriminate me."
"I think I might *tickle* you if you keep this up."
A corner of Rory's mouth started edging up. "You wouldn't dare."
A low chuckle. "Oh, Gilmore, you should know better by now than to challenge me like that..."
Rory blinked. "Now, Paris, let's-" Whatever else she was about to say was cut off as Paris practically tackled her and proceeded to carry out her threat. In short order she found that Rory was deathly ticklish just under her ribs.
The few books that had been on the bed were quickly knocked off by Rory as she thrashed around helplessly, laughing hysterically. Dammit, how had Paris found her worst spot that fast? In a desperate attempt to stop her, Rory wrapped her arms around Paris and pulling her close enough that her hands were pinned tightly under her body. As she regained her breath, she looked into Paris's eyes triumphently, their faces now about an inch apart.
It wasn't until Paris inhaled sharply and stiffened that Rory realized how big a mistake she'd just made. She knew the girl had a crush on her, so what did she do? She pulled her into a hug so tight it was practically a lovers' embrace. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Meanwhile, lurking in the back of her mind somewhere, unnoticed, was the observation that she was focusing so much on her self-recrimination so that she wouldn't notice the way her body was reacting to Paris's proxemity.
For her part, Paris was being overwhelmed by sensory input, and the temptation to cross that last inch of space between her lips and Rory's was almost more than she could bear. "Rory..." She began in a choked-up voice, "I-I..." It finally sunk in that Rory was breathing as rapidly as she was. "A-are you...?" Rory finally let her go, and after just a few moments longer than necessary she edged away. For a long time they just sat there, each trying to get their thoughts together. Finally, Paris managed to say, "I think... we need... to talk."
"Yeah, I guess we do."
After another minute of silence, it became clear to Paris that she was going to have to speak first. "Well, I guess it's rather obvious by now that I like you." She paused to clear her throat and continued, "I'm not very good at... well, I don't have a lot of experience with... talking about how I feel, you know? But I l... I lo... Dammit! Rory, I-I..."
Rory moved closer, taking Paris' hand in her own and rubbing it gently. "It's okay, Paris. You don't have to say it. I think I know how you feel."
"But if I don't say it now...! Wait, you knew?"
"I suspected, anyway." Anticipating Paris's next question, she said, "Ever since that time in Washington when I heard you, erm, talking about me in your sleep..."
"...oh." Paris could tell she was blushing again, so she began studying the bedspread. "You never said anything about it."
"I didn't want to embarrass you." Rory dropped Paris's hand and took hold of her chin, raising it until she was looking into her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what to do in this situation, but I do know that... I trust you. Now, what do you want to tell me?"
Paris took a deep breath. This was it; she'd never get a better chance than this. "I've been trying to tell you... that I love you." And screwing up every last bit of courage that she had, she crossed the remaining distance and kissed Rory.
It felt as if fireworks were going off in the back of her mind. She'd dreamed of this moment so many times that she almost couldn't believe it was actually happening. Never, in all the times that she'd pictured kissing Rory had she imagined how soft the other girl's lips would be, how perfectly the two of them would fit together.
Rory, on the other hand, nearly passed out. Paris was kissing her. Ever since she'd first gotten the idea that Paris liked her, she had, almost despite herself, tried to imagine what kissing her might be like. In fact, her imagination had occasionally run away with her, leaving her blushing furiously, especially if her mother happened to wander across her before she could calm down.
But she'd never imagined that it could feel this good.
She moved her hand up a little to carress Paris's cheek, only peripherally noting Paris mirroring her action. The rest of the world had quickly faded away for the both of them.
When asked later, neither one would ever really be able to say just how long they had sat like that before they'd broken apart, looking at each other. "I'm... not sure what to say," Rory admitted.
"I don't want you to say anything," Paris replied. "I'm not Dean. I'm not going to freak out if you don't instantly say you love me. I can wait as long as you need."
Rory gave her a relieved smile. "I'm glad to hear that, because I'm not sure how I feel yet. I mean, I do like you, obviously, but I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet. I mean, I just got out... well, I'm not sure *what* to call it, but between Jess and Dean... I'm a bit emotionally worn out, you know?"
"I suspected. But that's okay. We *do* have to figure out how we're going to make this work, especially with Yale coming up, but we have time."
"Yeah, we do." Rory suddenly grinned mischieviously. "But I do know what I want to do next."
Suspecting where this was going, Paris felt her own lips pulling up into a smile. "Oh?"
"Yep. I want to kiss you again."
"No one's stopping you."
A chuckle. "Glad to hear it."
After that, there weren't any more words.
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How will Stars Hollow react to Rory's newest love interest? Paris at Friday night dinner? Will Lorelai carry out her part of the bargain? All this and more, next time!