OK. This is my first Gillys fic. I haven't been writing in a long time, and the inspiration just kinda hit for this one. Because, while I love a good lit fic, I hate fics that take place after the finale, in which Rory suddenly realises she still loves Jess and when she shows up in Philly/her mom's wedding he's just been waiting around for her. I don't think hes that kinda of guy. He tried, and failed to win her over. On several occasions. I don't think he would have wasted anymore time after the ill fated kiss in 'The Real Paul Anka'. So yeah, ramble much? This is my take on Rory and Jess' closure. It will be LitFriendship. Eventually. Rory does bug me sometimes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except those characters you do not recognise from the show. And the characterisation of Mathew and Chris formTruncheon, not the characters, you understand, just their personal traits.
I hope you enjoy. :]
Chapter one: The New Girl in Town
"Jess, I'm leaving now, there's coffee made, and I won't be long. It's just another glitch in Lisa and Ben's relationship. I'll have breakfast with her, set her straight, make her realise she loves him and then I'll meet you at Truncheon at noon, when we can start the celebrations! I love you, bye!"
She ran across the apartment, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she left, leaving her keys on the table beside the door in her hurry. She made her way down the stairs from her six and top floor apartment. The elevator had never worked, but she didn't mind, it saved her going to the gym, or it was her excuse that she didn't need to go. She reached into her over sized bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. She opened the main door of the building and found a tall brunette searching for a buzzer.
"Oh are you trying to get in?" she asked the girl, standing aside to let her past.
"Thank you, I'm actually surprising someone and I was standing here trying to think of something to say when they answered the buzzer. So this is better." The taller girl said walking into the main hall of the building and heading towards the elevator.
"Oh sorry, the elevator's out of order; you have to use the stairs." The girl who lived in the building said, as she swept her long red bangs out of her eyes, put on her sunglasses and left. The brunette watched the red head until she turned the corner and then sighed before she started the long ascent to the sixth floor apartment.
Jess Mariano sat up in bed, just as he heard the front door to his apartment slam closed. He glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 9.05 am. Just under three hours before he had to be in Truncheon. He figured he could get a little work done before then. He got out of bed and headed towards the kitchen. He noticed the set of keys sitting on the phone table and chuckled to himself. It had been the eighth time in two weeks that he had found the keys in the apartment, while the owner of the keys was out. He has just made it to the kitchen door when there was a knock at the front door. He turned, and headed straight to the front door and grabbed the keys from the table. He opened the door, and held the keys out saying, "Forgotten somethi..."
He trailed off; he had looked up and noticed it wasn't the person he was expecting to be at his door. In fact it was the last person he ever expected to see there. "Rory?"
"Jess, can I come in?" Rory asked
"Sure." Jess opened the door completely and stood aside letting her walk past him into the apartment, throwing the keys he held back onto the side table.
"Can I get you some coffee?" he asked running his hands through his hair. He figured it would be less awkward if they both had something other than each other to concentrate on.
"Yeah, thanks," she replied, trying to catch his eye, but before she could, Jess turned on his heel and headed towards the kitchen.
"Sit down, I won't be long" he gestured to his sofa and pushed the door and disappeared into the kitchen.
He threw the keys onto the work surface and rubbed his eyes. 'What the hell is she doing here? Today of all days, she had to show up. After all this time. Why now?' Jess got two coffee mugs from the cupboard and poured coffee into both of them. He backed out of the kitchen into the sitting room and handed her the mug.
"Thanks. You look good Jess." Rory smiled up at him. And she meant it. He had got better looking as he got older. Not the cocky seventeen year old she had dated, nor the twenty one year old who had his first book published, who had changed his life for her only to be left disappointed. This was the man he had become, after she had trailed his heart through the hot coals. He had picked himself up and got on with life. Unlike Rory herself. After she turned down Logan's proposal she had flitted from man to man on the Obama campaign trail, as well as a few unsuccessful dates since she had settled in DC as part of the White House Press Corps for the Washington Post.
She couldn't figure out why she couldn't hold a steady relationship, something which always came naturally for her, and blamed it on her genes. It took her mom a long time before she finally settled for good with Luke, and rationalised that it would take her awhile to find her own Luke in DC.
That was until she went home. She had returned to Stars Hollow with the intentions of finally removing any trace of her childhood from the house, which her mom had sold when she and Luke had bought the Old Twickham house, a year and half after they had gotten back together, when Rory had left for the campaign trail, and when Lorelai had found out she was three months pregnant. Charlie, Rory's baby brother was now a year old and Rory's things had been packed for quite a while and it was time for her now to move on. That's when she came across the boyfriend boxes.
The Dean Box contained among other things, the bracelet he had made for her and the box of corn starch she had stolen when they first kissed. But opening the box had made her feel nothing, not sentimental in anyway. She had completely gotten over Dean after the second time (well third if you include the time they broke up when she couldn't say "I love you"). It was a different story when she opened her Jess Box. A Shagg's CD, a copy of 'Howl' with notes in the margin, a return bus ticket from Hartford to New York, a Distiller's concert ticket and a copy of Jess' book 'The Subsect'. She had flicked through her old copy of 'Howl', tracing her fingers over the faded pen marks he had once made. She knew in her heart that it had always been him.
She had always known that she loved Jess. She knew it when he asked her to run away with him, when he showed up at her grandmother's house with his book, when he kissed her at his open house, and when she refused Logan's marriage proposal. But she didn't know that she knew.
She asked Luke for his phone number, assuring him that she only wanted to talk about the upcoming nuptials, but she wondered if there was still a chance and got his address from information. It had been nearly four years since his open house. She could only hope he would still feel the same, and so far he seemed pretty calm. She took a sip of her coffee and looked up at him smiling.
"Why are you here, Rory?" He cut to the chase he didn't want her around any longer than she had to be. She had broke his heart once before, and it had taken a long time for him to get over that. She was taken aback by his bluntness, but after the way she left him before could she really blame him?
"I just want to talk. I needed to talk to you. I think I made a huge mist…" Rory's speech was interrupted by a loud bang at the door.
"JESS! Jess please let me in!" a female voice from the hall called. "I know I screwed up and forgot my keys… again, but Lisa just phoned. The break up with Ben didn't take, and apparently it was just fickle fight, and they're planning on spending the day making up. I hung up after that…but will you please open the door and we can start our own celebration! Come on crazy Mrs Valencia let me in downstairs and I know that you're right on the other side. I promise…I'm surgically attaching the keys to my hand. Please open the…"
Jess pulled open the door "…thank you! Hi..." She smiled up at him and standing on her tip toes she kissed him on the cheek as she walked past him and spotted Rory on the couch "…oh, I didn't realise that we had company. Hey. You're the girl I let into the building, right?"
Rory stood up and nodded, "Yeah, I'm Rory Gilmore." She offered her hand to this mystery girl in Jess' life. The girl smiled and shook her hand as Jess said "Rory, this is Lydia. My wife."
"Lyds, Rory is an old friend."
"Oh wow, well nice to meet to meet you Rory." Lydia said, gesturing to Rory to sit back down. They both sat on the couch and Lydia asked how Rory how she knew Jess. Rory bearly knew how to answer. She was too late. She was way too late. He'd got married. Why wouldn't Luke tell her Jess was married? She ignored the red headed girl's question and asked one of her own, directed at Jess, "When did you get married. Luke never mentioned anything."
"It was three months ago. Today. It's sort of an anniversary. It happened in Vegas. And Luke knows. I just asked him not to tell…anyone." Jess replied, knowing that with every mention of his uncle, his wife would work out how he knew Rory. Who she really was. He knew his wife well. He could tell she had worked out it. Lydia looked from Jess, to Rory and back again and then stood up.
"Rory, could you excuse me and Jess for a few minutes, I just need to tell him something. Jess, move." And she ushered her husband into the kitchen.
Lydia walked towards the sink on the opposite side of the kitchen and placed her hands firmly on the surface, as if she was trying to steady herself.
"Lydia, is everything ok?" Jess asked walking over to his wife and placing his hands on her upper arms. Lydia turned around to face Jess, and leaning against the counter she smiled a sad smile up at him.
"That's her, isn't it?" she asked, pulling at his faded black t-shirt. "She's 'Holly', right?" Lydia enquired, making the quotation marks with her hands. "The girl in your book, the one it's dedicated to, the one you loved, who broke your heart?"
"Lydia, come on, this doesn't matter…" Jess half laughed and shook his head.
"Jess, please," Lydia asked looking up into his deep brown eyes, "I deserve the truth. Is that her?"
"Yes, it's her." Jess confirmed quietly. Lydia gave a soft laugh, "Well, she's gorgeous, you totally downplayed how pretty she was in the book."
Jess smiled down at her and asked, "Are you being sarcastic?"
"Yes," she smiled, and poked him in the chest, "I mean it was you who taught me!" Jess laughed and pulled his wife into a hug, kissing her on the head. "What's she doing here?" Lydia asked, still in the folds of her husband's arms.
"Well, I don't actually know," said Jess, letting go of her "…You interrupted before with all your banging on the door. So let's go ask her. We've left her out there long enough."
Jess and Lydia walked back into their sitting room, where Rory was sitting, looking very uncomfortable. In their absence she had noticed the photos that were placed around the room.
Jess and Lydia looking happy and in love in each of them. There was one on the phone table beside the couch and had intrigued Rory. It was Jess and Lydia, but she was trying to run away, obviously not wanting her picture taken. But Jess was holding on to her by the waist, clearly not letting her get away. She is bent over and her long hair is covering her face, but it's still clear she's laughing. Jess is also laughing. Rory had never seen Jess that happy. Ever.
It was odd to picture him that happy with another girl and not with her. She guessed that too much had happened in their lives for either of them to be truly happy with each other. When they returned to the sitting room, Rory stood up.
She just wanted to get out but before she could make her excuses Lydia spoke up. "Sorry about that…I was just getting filled in…on the past, I guess. And now that I've been filled, I'll go. I'm guessing you two have a lot to catch up on."
"Lyds, you don't have…" Jess started but the red head cut him off.
"No, it's fine. I'll be at Truncheon. You guys have a load on, and Math had his big date with the hot blonde last night, so Chris is probably there by himself. And you know I love editing. It's like grading papers, you know without all the equations. Just meet me there after. We'll get something to eat and start the celebrations."
She turned to Rory and smiled, "It was nice meeting you."
"You too." Rory replied. Lydia kissed Jess on the cheek and said a quiet "Bye" before turning and heading out the door.
When she had left Jess turned to Rory and gestured for her to sit down again. They both sat on either ends of the couch.
"So…", Jess began, "…you were about to tell me why you're here." Rory looked up and locked eyes with him. He was married. She didn't know where to begin. Should she tell him the truth? No. That would kill her, to have it said out loud that he could never be hers. He was looking at her with a curious look. He was waiting on an answer.
"Well…" Rory tried to think on her feet, and then it hit her. The wedding, it was the only plausible thing that she could be there for. "…I'm here about Luke and my mom's wedding. I know that Luke has asked you to be best man, and I just want you to know, that you should only say yes to him if you really want to be there. I don't want this day ruined for my mom."
"Rory, I already agreed to be Luke's best man. I was honoured. And despite what you're mom might think of me, I would never try to ruin this day. And is that all you came to say, 'cause you know you could have just phoned." Jess replied.
"Well I actually have some work to do in Philadelphia so I decided to come see you and I also wanted to invite you to the surprise engagement party. It's next Saturday, town square. It starts at seven sharp. I know Luke would love to see you."
With that she rose to her feet and walked to the door. "Bye…"she said as she pulled it open, "…oh and congratulations on your…wedding." And she left, thinking to herself that this was possibly the worst plan she has ever had. She walked down the stairs and out the front door. She headed back to the hotel she had booked into last night when she arrived. She packed her small weekend bag and got in her car and started her drive back to Connecticut.
Off all the scenarios Rory had played out in her head the night before, Jess turning her down because he was married was not one of them. Not that he technically turned her down. She didn't even get to tell him that she was still in love with him. Thank God. So really it could have been way worse. She just wanted to forget the whole thing, and she was sure that Jess and Lydia wouldn't show up to the party. She hoped.
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Jess took a quick shower and headed out of the apartment. He arrived at Truncheon around twenty minutes later. He walked in and found Chris and Mathew sitting at the counter having coffee.
"Hey guys, is Lydia about? She said she was heading here." Jess asked walking towards them.
"Yeah…" Mathew replied, standing up, "She came in and said she was here to help with some editing, which I thought was weird because she's been going on about this being your three month wedding anniversary for about a two weeks now. I asked if everything was okay and she burst into tears, asked for an Irish coffee, 'Pretty in Pink' and to be left alone. She's been upstairs ever since. What the hell happened Mariano?"
Jess walked behind the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee, "Jeez, she was fine when she left…" He sat down and told his friends what had happened, with Lisa and Ben and the non breakup and then Lydia returning home to find Rory at the apartment. "She left to come here after she asked if Rory was the girl in my book. But Rory was only there to warn be to be on my best behaviour at her mom's wedding."
He ran his hand through his hair and looked up, "So she's up there with whiskey and Andrew McCarthy, huh?"
"No…" Chris replied, "…We just gave her normal coffee, and I don't 'Pretty in Pink' so she had to make do with 'St. Elmo's Fire' that Si left here."
Jess shot Chris a look of contempt "But that's McCarthy and Rob Lowe. That's worse!"
"I know, that's why I was warning you" Chris laughed
Mathew put his hand on Jess' shoulder, stopping him as he turned to head for the stairs, "Sort it out, man. What I said when you started dating still stands. I'll kill you if you hurt that girl."
"I know." Jess sighed as he started up the stairs.
He reached the door of the apartment he once shared with Mathew and Chris and knocked on it before he entered, without waiting on a reply.
"Well, well, well, if you're not the Drama Queen of Philly today, I don't know who is." He said with a smile as he sat down on the couch beside his wife, who kept her eyes on the t.v. Jess sat for a minute and then without taking his eyes off the screen said "Will I ever be able to compete with Rob Lowe?"
Lydia smiled and looked at her husband, "I dunno. Did you bring your sax?"
"Damn! Knew I'd forgotten something!" Jess glanced down and saw the coffee Lydia had asked for, the mug still full. "You didn't drink your coffee" he stated pulling her round so she faced him.
"Yeah, well you know I can't drink coffee coffee, it needs a kick. Those idiots downstairs thought I wouldn't realise. Now can I please get back to Rob since he remembered his sax?"
Jess laughed and kissed her quick on the mouth. "No. Not until you tell me what happened on the way over here? You seemed fine when you left the apartment and you arrived here so worked up Mathew wanted to tear me apart!"
Lydia looked up at him and sighed, "You're gonna think I'm crazy, I can't tell you." She said looking away.
"I already think you're crazy, now spill." Jess replied.
"Well, on the cab ride over, I just started thinking about how in love with Rory you were, and you even wrote a book about this great love and that has to mean something. Right? And she came to that open house here, and after that went down, you broke down. For a year you were mopey and slutty. You slept with any girl who'd have you. Even Math, the serial dater was worried. So what I'm trying to say, very inarticulately, is that with the way things ended for you two, I just panicked that she was still in love with you and wanted you back. And if that's true, and you want her, all I ask is that I get to keep the 'Bartlett is the president' coffee mug, and that you break my heart quick, like pulling off a band aid."
Jess started laughing at his wife, and she snapped her head back and glared at him. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?" she asked.
"Just a little," he replied still laughing, "but just because you're crazy if you think I'm giving up that mug. Or you. Rory only wanted to warn me about being on my best behaviour at the wedding. And she invited us to a surprise engagement party she's throwing next Saturday. That's it."
"Really?" Lydia smiled up at him.
"Really really. Now can we go downstairs and show Mathew we're still together and that he has no reason to kill me?" Jess asked standing up and holding out his hand to pull Lydia up.
"Sure, but you know Math is only like that out of protectiveness. I'm his oldest friend, and he thinks of me as a sister, so cut him some slack. You can't blame the guy for loving your wife, right?" she replied, standing up, and with that she kissed him on the cheek and walked passed him and downstairs, shouting, "Crisis averted boys! He still wants me!" Jess followed her, quietly laughing to himself.