Disclaimer: Everything Gilmore Girls related is not mine. Just the idea.

A/N: I know, I know, another new story and no new chapter for "Falling In Love", but this idea wouldn't go away and there was no chance at all to write for FIL when this one was still lingering around. So I wrote it down and it was fun to write, so I showed it Kassandra, and if you don't know by now, she is a sweetheart and I couldn't manage without her.

Also, I try to continue this, but truth to be told it's not my priority-number-one-project, so it propably will take quite a while. I hope you understand.

Only one thing left to say: Have fun and please don't forget to review, I would love to hear what you think about this story.

Best, Tina

GETTING MARRIED

- Chapter 1 -

Getting Engaged

Chris entered Truncheon through the front door and was relieved to escape the hell of weather outside. The rain was pouring down once again. In the last 36 hours it had only stopped for about 20 minutes. Chris hated rain. He was a Californian boy; he would never get used to those downpours here in the east.

Matt scrambled over, two mugs with steaming liquid in his hands, and gave one to Chris.

"Be careful," he whispered at the same time, "he's in a foul mood. Right now he's in the back, but when he comes out just avoid eye contact and don't speak directly to him."

"Did she reject him?" Chris whispered back, concern evident in his voice.

"Nope. He didn't have the chance to ask yet. She had to go on a business trip, very last minute, and will be back in four days."

"Geez, now I know why he's in a foul mood. He's carrying this ring around for months now and every time he decides to give it to her something is getting in the way. I hope you didn't hang the 'Congrats'-banner this time?"

Matt looked a little guilty and Chris escaped a heavy sigh. He really needed to get rid of this banner or else Jess was going to kill them.

Matt nodded and took a sip from his tea, his eyes traveling through the window. He loved rain. He was a British guy; he grew up with downpours like these.

The Californian took off his jacket and went over to his desk. The meeting with the new artist was quite successful, and not only because she was really beautiful and Chris had a thing for beautiful artists. Her phone number was written down in his Filofax, together with a date scheduled for Saturday at eight.

The front door opened again, this time to reveal a young woman trying to close her umbrella, shaking off the last droplets which found a way onto her jacket nonetheless. Simultaneously the door to the back office opened and Jess stepped through it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked seconds later when his eyes fell on the woman at the front.

"Wow, you sound happy to see me," she replied in a dry tone, "trip got canceled because of the weather, so I thought I come here and surprise you?"

Chris jumped off his seat and rushed over to Matt. Seconds later he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him into the direction of the upstairs apartment.

"What the hell …" Matt was confused, but the second he saw the face of his friend he shut up.

"Sorry, guys, but Matt and I have to … we have to get something organized … upstairs … don't we, Matt?"

"Yes! The bloody DVD collection's a mess! We really need to take care of this immediately."

Jess looked confused at his two friends stumbling up the stairs to the apartment they lived in. He himself had moved out some time ago. It was the giggle coming from the front door which made him turn around again.

"They're acting weird, even for their standards. Is something going on that I don't know about?" she asked while taking the few steps over to him. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek.

It was Rory's fifth year in Philadelphia and she could still laugh about the way his friends often acted.

When she worked for the online-magazine following Obama around the country, the campaign also stopped in Philly at some point. It was like nature's law for her to go and visit Jess. The last time they met wasn't exactly the way she wanted to remember him, so she went to apologize for her behavior. He accepted and they promised to keep in touch.

The once in a while e-mail, turned into the once-a-week calls, which turned into the daily conversation, either by mail or by phone, which turned into her showing up on his doorstep and declaring that she fell in love with him all over again and she was sorry, but if he didn't feel remotely the same she had to stop calling, mailing, and seeing him, because it would break her heart – again – and this time she wasn't sure it would ever heal.

Jess wrapped his arms around her and simply asked what took her so long, before he crushed her lips to his and thanked heaven and the angels that finally – FINALLY – she was back in his arms, and even better than that, she was in love with him.

After the campaign-trail she moved to Philadelphia, first into an apartment with three other girls – Hattie, Joan and Marian – and a few months later, together with Jess, into their first apartment.

Jess kept writing and worked at Truncheon, and Rory got a job as a small editor at the Philadelphia Weekly, before – only a few months ago – the Inquirer offered her the chance to work as an actual reporter. Freelance for the time being, but if she worked hard enough there was the possibility of a permanent position at the paper.

It was that evening that he first wanted to ask her to marry him. He had prepared a wonderful dinner and placed candles on the table, put nice, romantic music in the stereo. She had opened the door that night, a huge smile plastered on her face, and when she saw his efforts she wrapped her arms around him and asked him how he knew about the job offer? And then he knew that he couldn't ask her then. This night was an important night for her career and he didn't have the heart to take that away from her. In the future when she remembered how she got proposed to it shouldn't clash with some other important event.

So he waited. And waited. And waited some more. Because every time he planned to finally ask her something else came up.

Just as he wanted to fish for the box and pop the question at his second try, the doorbell rang and Lorelai stood in front of it for a surprise visit. The third time was interrupted by Marian, her former roommate, crying on the phone that her boyfriend broke up with her. Number four and five both got interrupted because of last minute work which needed immediate attention. And finally, number six was canceled because she had to go on this working trip. Which wasn't happening now, but still his planned out evening was gone and the question was still unspoken, and therefore he wasn't in the best of moods.

Jess wasn't the type to believe in fate, but somehow lately he thought, more and more, that the universe had something against the idea of him and Rory being married.

"What's wrong, hon? You're mad because of the trip?" she took his head in her hands and smiled, "It got canceled and we can spend tonight with fast food and movies, how does that sound? I already rented Almost Famous and you can order Thai food, if you want."

This sounded way too good and Jess was sure: That the moment he tried again to ask her, something or someone would interrupt; and he had enough of it. At least for the next few days. Maybe he would try again in a few weeks, but for now he simply couldn't bear to be cut short once more. So he broke away from her, put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shrugged with his shoulders.

"You go ahead, watch the movie, order Thai or whatever, and have a nice evening. Tonight I'm stuck with work."

Her eyebrows shot up and her face showed confusion. The nice thing about working in your own business was the possibility to arrange your working hours on your own. Even if he was stuck with work he was still able to take a two hour break now and work from home afterwards. But Rory knew that at the moment work wasn't overflowing him. By now she had an idea of how it looked when the boys were head over heels in work. The phone wouldn't stop ringing, every five seconds a customer would enter the shop, Matt sat at his table with three different phones pressed to his ear, Chris typed furiously on his computer, and Jess was either on the phone, or typing, or cursing, or all three at once – while trying to serve the customers.

Tonight was nada. Chris and Matt where upstairs "organizing the bloody DVD collection" and the office downstairs was quiet (as it should be on a Friday night).

"Yes, I can see that work is killing you right now." It took her three and a half years to get nearly as sarcastic as him, but in situations like these Rory truly was his model student.

"Huh. You always had a feeling for the hard working people."

"That's me. Being supportive and understanding with the guy who's obviously working his ass off."

"Very generous indeed."

"I'm sure the ton of work is also the reason why you turned into a monosyllabic ass again."

"Strike, baby!"

Awesome! Now they were fighting. Perfect start for the weekend. This wasn't what he had in mind when the week started. He thought by now she would finally have the ring on her finger and they were smiling and being happy and ridiculously cute and lovey-dovey.

Why on earth did almost nothing ever work out the way he wanted it to?

Jess turned around and stormed over to his desk, Rory close on his heels. Awesome! Now they were fighting. Perfect start for the weekend. This wasn't what she had in mind when the week started. She thought by now they would be snuggled up under the blanket, some movie they both didn't recognize was running on the TV, his hands on her body, and on his lips was a soft I love you.

"Are you seriously starting a fight with me now? Over work? This was never an issue before, Jess!" Truth to be told she was kinda confused. It really was never a problem before when she had to go on a last minute trip for work. It didn't happen that often and it was always him who told her to not pass up the opportunity.

"So, it's an issue now!" Did he really sound this ridiculous and childish right now? Jesus Christ, this ring in his pocket was killing him. He turned into freakin' Lorelai Gilmore.

"Wow, how very mature of you!" She was angry, but tried to calm down at least a little bit to find out why the two of them suddenly were fighting, "What's going on with you? Did something else happen?"

He had enough and stormed to his jacket. Rory was sure he was about to put it on and storm out of the shop, but instead he reached into the pocket and pulled something out. Afterwards he stormed back over to her, his whole appearance one of anger and rage.

"You know what? Enough is enough! I'm done!"

Her heart beat faster and she nearly burst into tears hearing his words. Was he breaking up with her? Holy Mother Mary, he was breaking up with her!

"You can't be serious! You're breaking up with me? Over work?"

He paused for a second and looked at her like she was totally out of her mind.

"Would you please just shut up and listen! I'm not breaking up with you, you crazy person! The last couple of months I probably tried it a hundred times but every single time something else came up. So, take it," he virtually placed the box in her hand in a matter-of-fact kind of way, "If you say yes: great! If you say no, I wouldn't be surprised either. This proposal was jinxed from the very start."

Silence. Her eyes were like saucers and her heart beat even faster than just before. She tried to realize what was happening to her and only one thought ran through her mind: "He's proposing! Not breaking up, he's proposing!" Over and over again, like a mantra, and still she couldn't believe that he was asking her while they were fighting. Well, he didn't really ask, he threw a ring box at her. The actual question never left his mouth. Maybe this wasn't a proposal at all. Maybe he was just angry and showed her what could have been? Rory needed assurance. But – maybe for the first time in her life – words failed her. And she still was a little bit angry, so only one question popped out.

"What?"

This was not happening! Did he really just throw the ring at her and literally screamed his proposal out? What was wrong with him? What woman would ever accept such an offer of marriage presented the way he did it? He was fuckin' out of his mind! Still, the adrenaline was pushing through his veins and didn't let him back off.

"What!"

He made her furious! This was so not happening. Was he proposing or not? Why for heaven's sake was he turning into his monosyllabic self when they talked about something so very important? If you could even call it 'talking', it was more like screaming their heads off, but whatever. So. Not. The Point!

Rory decided to jump into the deep end and just ask him straight away.

"This was your proposal? Throwing the box with the ring at me and stating that you don't care if I say yes or no?"

Geez, she was furious! And who could blame her? Not even he himself blamed her for it. It was a miracle she didn't threw the box back at his head yet and told him that he was fuckin' unbelievable and he couldn't even propose nicely? Nevertheless she got one point totally wrong: Of course he cared. He cared a lot and she needed to know that.

"Don't put words into my mouth! You know I care very much or else I wouldn't have asked in the first place!"

Oh my god, he really was proposing! He was PROPOSING! To her! And she wanted to scream 'Yes!' and throw her arms around him and kiss him breathless, but somehow her brain and her heart didn't react in synch and the next words left her mouth before she could stop them.

"Geez, Jess! You didn't even ask in the first place!"

Why were women this complicated? And who on earth made up this whole proposal-thingy, anyway? The 'get-down-on-one-knee-and-declare-your-unconditional-neverending-love-to-her'-scenario? If he wasn't dead by now Jess would kill the guy. Fuckin' moron, made the whole proposal-business for future generations nearly unbearable. Why couldn't he simply say one morning over breakfast: "Listen, we should get married, what do you think?". No, women needed their 'special occasion' with their 'special place' and 'special words' and of course the 'special ring'. Not to forget the 'special flowers' and the 'special music' and all the other 'specials'. Okay, so he had none of the specials. Except for the ring naturally, but this was the most important item anyway, wasn't it? Why did it even matter that he didn't actually ask the question, but only gave her the ring instead? What, a ring was so mistakable, you couldn't be sure what it meant? Puh-lease!

"Huh, I thought the ring in the box implied enough."

Why were men this stubborn? Why couldn't he simply open his mouth and ask the question? A 'Marry me?' paired with the trademark-smirk would have been more than enough, but no! He needed to turn to sarcasm. Not even when proposing he let go of it. Typical. TYPICAL!

"I think this is the worst proposal in human history!"

Great! Thank you, sarcasm, for ruining his chance of marriage with Rory. He was so stupid! He should've just locked up his Mr. Sarcasm inside, knelt down and asked her. Now she was refusing him! Oh god, she was rejecting! Jess wasn't sure if his heart would survive that. Right from the beginning, when marriage first made an appearance in his mind, he told himself that a rejection would probably kill him, but he was more than happy to take that chance. Because he was so sure she wouldn't decline. Ha, sure my ass! Brilliant, Mr. Einstein!

"So you say no?"

No! Not for all the money in the world was she going to let him get out of it again. He somehow asked if she wanted to get married, so now he would marry her, god damn it! No way back!

"Are you out of your mind? Of course I want to marry you, you silly man!"

And then she laid in his arms and they kissed like no tomorrow, and he couldn't believe that she actually said yes, and she couldn't believe that he actually proposed. All the harsh words and the monosyllabic self and the sarcasm were forgotten over the fact that they agreed to get married.

"You crazy woman," he whispered a couple of moments later, just inches away from her lips, "every other woman would have thrown the ring at my head and called me a fuckin' bastard and not say yes."

He smiled a brilliant smile that Rory wasn't sure she'd ever saw on him before. His breath was mingling with hers and his eyes were lingering on her face. His arms were so tightly wrapped around her that it was nearly painful – sweet, wonderful pain. This was probably, so far, the best moment of her life.

Her arms were around his torso and her hands drew patterns on his back where they crept under the hemline of his t-shirt. She smiled so widely at him, like never before, and her eyes sparkled in a way he knew they would only ever sparkle for him. This definitely was the best moment of his life.

"Good thing I'm not every other woman."

He laughed out loud, so very rare for him and mostly always only when she was around, and she joined in.

"Yeah, very good thing." He smirked and didn't give her the chance to comment as he pressed his lips on hers. She responded more than happily but still was the one to break away after a minute. Something he said picked her curiosity.

"You really tried for months?"

He decided that it couldn't harm to let her know what he went through.

"The first time I wanted to pop the question was that night you came home and told me about the job offer from the Inquirer."

She gasped: "Jess! That was over seven months ago!"

His trademark smirk was back and he whispered right before kissing her again and again and again: "See? Jinxed from the very start."

oOo

Back in the apartment upstairs two young men stood with their ears pressed to the wooden door, eavesdropping from the first piercing word spoken between the couple downstairs and finally grinning madly at each other when the shouting abruptly stopped and was replaced with an unmistakable overly happy male and female couple laughing.

Both of their faces showed huge smiles, being happy for their friend and his girl, before Matt – in his most innocent voice – wanted to know if maybe now they could hang up the 'Congrats'-banner again.

TBC