Curves & Edges
Chapter 1

By Buffychick

Author's Note: I'm not one for song-fic, mostly I think it's stupid, but this song inspired me, so there you have it.

Inspired by: "All of Me" by John Legend

Author's Note 2: I lost my inspiration with Regrets and Reason, and I know how horribly unfair that is. I promise to continue it, but in the meantime, I give you this this peace-offering.

Summary: Almost a decade after the disastrous kiss at Truncheon, Luke & Lorelei are married. Rory is a world-traveling reporter based in Boston. Jess is a successful author recently moved from Philadelphia to New York. When life brings Rory to New York she and Jess reconnect.

She turned the envelope over in her hand, staring at it reverently. She traced her name, Ms. Rory Gilmore, over the loopy script on the front, nothing else marring the card stock because it had been delivered by courier.

Sitting in her office, the view of Boston behind her, she picked up the phone and hit a couple of buttons.

"What's up Rory?" came the voice over the speaker.

"Jack…can you come here for a sec?"

"Uh, sure… Be right there."

A moment later, there was a knock, and her door opened, the face of her cameraman, and best friend on the road, following only seconds later. "What's going on?" he asked, easing himself into her office.

She grinned at him, and held up the envelope. Jack's green eyes became curious. "This came from the AWM," she told him.

Jack's eyes now widened and his mouth fell open. "Are you shitting me?"

Rory laughed nervously. "Nope. Delivered by courier not ten minutes ago."

"And you haven't opened it yet?!" he all but shouted, flying to her desk but carefully plucking the envelope from her fingers. Staring down at the white envelope with Rory's name on it, she could practically feel his heart racing alongside hers.

"I thought you might want to be here," she grinned, her blue eyes shining with both excitement and fear.

"Open this thing right now," he ordered, thrusting it in her face. "Do it."

She took it back from him and took a breath, her hands now shaking.

"Rory…you got it," he assured her, and moved in to sit on the edge of her desk, perching on one hip as his leg tapped wildly in anticipation. "Open it."

She grabbed a pair of scissors, not bothering to find her letter opener, and cut the envelope open carefully, knowing she'd want to preserve it later. Pulling the heavy card stock from its home, she turned it over and read to herself.

A Gracie. She'd won. "The Alliance for Women in Media congratulates Rory Gilmore on her outstanding work in the industry and is pleased to announce her as the 2014 winner of the Gracie for Outstanding Reporter/Correspondent," she read softly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Holy shit," Jack murmured. He couldn't contain his grin. "Holy shit!" he shouted then, grabbing Rory and pulling her into his arms, swinging her around the office.

"Holy shit!" she agreed happily, squeezing him tightly as tears of joy ran down her face.

"You did it!" he cried, holding her at arm's length, pride shining in his eyes.

She looked at the face of the man who had been, literally, by her side in the trenches for the past five years. "We did it," she corrected him. "This is as much about you as it is about me. Your name should be on here too. Just, maybe in slightly smaller print," she teased.

"Har har," he said, blushing. "But thanks. However…this is you. All you."

"I couldn't have done it without you. Every step of the way. Just know that."

He blushed more deeply, and she grinned because it was, frankly, adorable. Big lummox of a man, built like a linebacker, but he blushed like a schoolgirl at any compliment.

Later, after everyone in the office who needed to be told had been told, after her agent had cried on the phone and promised to keep it off Facebook for at least 24 hours so Rory could call her mother first, she sat in her chair again, staring out the window, still in slight disbelief that she'd won her first prestigious award.

The road here had been long, but it was longer for others. She'd been lucky, but she was also good. Really good. The Obama Presidential race was long over, he was already serving his second term at this point, but beyond that road experience she had continued to write for the online magazine, and when one of her stories was picked up by the Associated Press, and then run all over the world, doors began to open. Not for the first time, as she sat in her sixteenth floor office looking over the skyline of Boston, she hoped a couple of those doors had hit Mitchum Huntzberger smack in the face as they'd swung open for her.

She had traveled around the world at this point, seven years after she had first boarded that campaign bus headed into the virtual unknown. She had covered disasters, traumas, victories and triumphs. Rory Gilmore had accomplished what she wanted to do, and it wasn't without a little satisfaction that she had been able to flat out turn down jobs for several outlets owned and operated by the Huntzberger family. Not that she hadn't run into Mitchum, or Shira, or even Logan from time to time. The industry wasn't big enough to avoid that. And she was proper, and polite, and laughed at the appropriate times, and feigned interest when needed, as the media mogul would speak to her or to a group at a function, and then shared a secret smile with her Jack or her agent, Beth, who all-too-well knew the history there.

Mitchum made her work harder, if anything. To be first. To get the story, to get the scoop, to be the journalist that everyone respected and liked and more to the point, trusted with their story. Every time she beat him and his minions to a story, every time she was the reporter called for the scoop, for the exclusive, it was equivalent to a notch on her headboard. And she knew he hated her for it, and for the fact that she so sweetly refused to work with him or have anything to do with his vast company, and especially when he was forced to print something she wrote simply because good journalism required it.

Rory held up her invitation to the ceremony where she would receive her award, and determined that this was going to require a new dress, definitely. She consulted her schedule, then picked up the phone.

"Hello, my child," rang Lorelei's voice through the cell phone.

"Hey mom…busy this weekend?"

"Are you in my part of the world? For once?" her mother teased.

"I'm in Boston, you know that…and I need to go shopping."

"In Boston? I'm in."

Rory grinned as she began packing up her Coach messenger bag. "Well…I was thinking New York, actually. Can you manage it?"

"Not until Saturday, probably, but should be doable. Luke might even want to come. Not shopping, naturally, but to see Jess."

Rory's hand stopped midway from putting her iPad in her bag. "I keep forgetting he's in New York now."

"Well, it's only been like two months."

Rory continued placing items in her bag, a frown on her face. "I know, but it's not like we talk all the time. Last time I saw him was Thanksgiving when he graced us with his presence for the random holiday visit."

"I think he likes being back there. I don't talk to him much, not that Luke does either, but you know, more than I do."

Rory sat back in her leather executive chair. "His new book is coming out soon. I remember that much."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. So, anyway, why the sudden urge to shop, and in New York?"

Grateful for the topic change, Rory grinned. "Well, they have the best shops for fancy dresses."

Rory could see Lorelei's ears perk up. "Why do we need a fancy dress?" she asked casually.

"So I can look pretty when I accept my Gracie."

Lorelei gasped, which made Rory grin. "You did it," her mother whispered. "Oh, Ror…you did it. Oh my God…honey…I am so proud of you! Oh my God! Luke!" she screeched, holding the phone away from her face. "Luke!"

Rory laughed as she heard Luke's confused reply and then the babbling of her mother, just enough of out of range of the phone that Rory could only make out the sounds and inflections of the words, not the actual words themselves. She waited while Luke caught up and then heard his muffled excitement as well.

"We're so proud of you!" Lorelei repeated, finally coming back to the conversation.

"Thanks," Rory beamed. "I just can't believe it. I'm…stunned."

The grin on Lorelei's face could be felt through the phone. "Well, you shouldn't be. This is huge…and you deserve it so much, Rory. I can't tell you how much you deserve this. Congratulations baby."

"Thanks mom," she smiled into the phone. "So…I need a dress."

"And we will shop like we were born for it, which we may, in fact, have been."

"The ceremony is in a few weeks. I'll try to find out how many tickets I can get, but don't count on anything."

"I'll gate crash. Or get Sookie to cater it and sneak in that way."

A thought crossed Rory's mind and she frowned. "Ugh. Mitchum will be there."

"Why? He's not a woman in media. That I know of. Oh my God, is he really a woman?"

Years of experience had her ignoring her mother. "He just will be. I'm sure of it."

"Well, you've dealt with him before. Just ignore him. Or poison his food. Unless Sookie's catering."

"We really handle grudges so well," Rory commented lightly.

"No one can say we aren't loyal in our hatred. Scorn us and we're the elephants of grudges. We never forget. And hey, I haven't been arrested yet making my hatred of him known, I consider that a success," her mother pointed out.

"I'm heading out. I'll call you tonight and we'll figure out plans?"

"You bet," her mother confirmed, then more softly, "Hey, kid…I'm so proud of you."

Rory smiled into the phone, feeling loved. "Thanks mom. I owe at least 47% of it to you."

"Rude!" Lorelei gasped. "You owe me at least 64%."

"You lost points during that whole Keeping up with the Kardashians phase."

"I only watched one season," Lorelei protested.

"But the impact lasts forever," Rory said simply.

Please review - I live for it, and it keeps me motivated.