Title: Riding the Bus

Author: Miss-Jedi

Rating: K+

Summary: Taking a deep breath she moved to the back of the bus again. Let's start this over, she thought. "Can I sit?" Episode 3x20 Rory decides to stay on the bus with Jess. LIT

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters. So, don't sue, okay?

Authors Note: This idea just kind of popped into my head while I was watching "Say Goodnight, Gracie" and I just kept thinking "Rory, don't get of the bus! Stay with him!" So I kept thinking about it and I decided I'd had enough of the evil plot bunnies, so I started writing. This is just the prologue, so it's not long and it contains dialogue from episode 3x20. Depending on how people feel about this story, I could have Chapter One up tomorrow.

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Rory sat there on the bus, trying to read. She kept reading the same sentence in the book over and over yet no words registered in her brain; she had been having trouble concentrating lately. Rory wasn't even sure when it started, or how; if it had come on suddenly, or if it had been slowly creeping up on her, she just wasn't sure… about anything. All the stress of school and Jess had just been weighing down on her and she just didn't know what to think of it all. Never in her life had a boy made her feel this way, but he was pulling back; it scared her. It scared her because she knew everyone was right; he was going to hurt her. She didn't know how quite yet, but it was coming soon and she knew it. There was a sick feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach that was driving her insane.

Just as the bus pulled to another halt, Rory finally gave up trying to read her book. She closed it with frustration and looked around as people got off and on the bus. As the crowd cleared she noticed a dark haired boy in the back of the bus. She leaned forward to confirm who it was.

Jess.

Their eyes met, both full of surprise. Rory took a deep breath and gathered her things, making her way towards Jess. It felt like she was walking to her death. A long stride through a throng of people; all eyes on the innocent girl in the school uniform, heading towards the bad boy in the leather jacket. She hated that feeling; it was as if someone was just waiting for her to trip.

"Hey," she greeted when the walk was over.

"Hey." His expression was blank, much different from the earlier surprise.

"Can I sit?" She asked. She realized that suddenly she felt she needed permission to sit next to him.

"Uh," He hesitated, "sure, sit." She sat down right next to him and there was a pause. She felt awkward next to him, so close, but yet barely touching. Jess felt awkward too; she could tell that just from his body language. Awkward mixed with panic.

"I thought you took an earlier bus." He broke the silence, and she wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question. She decided the latter.

"My first class got canceled today."

"Oh," was all he said.

There was another awkward pause before he broke it again, "So what's been going on?"

"Nothing much," she began, trying to sound normal, "Fran died."

"I heard."

"I went to her funeral yesterday."

"Luke went too."

"I saw him there," she said, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Yeah?"

"He was in the back." They both nodded and looked at anything but each other. Jess couldn't stand the silence.

"I can't go to the prom," he told her and she looked at him, "I couldn't get tickets."

Rory just looked down, rather upset. "Oh."

"Sorry," he said sincerely. She wouldn't look at him and the bus came to a halt.

"This is my stop."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Um," she started, unsure of what to say, "You'll call me?"

"Yeah, I'll call you."

She just nodded and got up heading for the bus door. She looked at him as she pushed the bus door open, and stepped out. But she just sat there, with a dreading feeling. She felt like crying and yelling at the same time. The bus behind her started to move again, and she sighed, turned around and watched it. A million thoughts were running through her head, and at this second, if she didn't do anything she knew she'd regret it. The bus had hardly even moved when she went back to its doors, asking to be let back in. The grumpy bus driver reluctantly let her back in, and it started to move again. She turned her head Jess' way, and he looked back at her. He looked confused, and angry and almost hurt – she imagined she looked just about the same. Taking a deep breath she moved to the back of the bus again.

Let's start this over, she thought. "Can I sit?"

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Yeah, short, I know. If you're still interested in reading the rest of the story, review please. It encourages me and motivates me to update more. Reviews are my life juice. If it was crap, I'm sorry. It's only my second Gilmore Girls fanfic on here, and I'm not experienced in it yet. Thanks for your time!

Miss-Jedi