Disclaimer: I own nothing 'cept my own ideas. There are bits of the first season finale somewhere in the middle, I don't own that either.
Summary: What if? A simple question. What if Rory went to New York while her and Dean were broken up in the first season? What if she met Jess? What if Jess ended up coming to Stars Hollow anyway?
A/N: There are HUGE amounts of differences between this story at the original story. This will be the story that the continuations are based off of.
Today was the day, the last field trip of the year. For some strange reason, the English Department decided to take them to a Broadway production. There didn't seem to be any sense in the matter. After all, Broadway was known for musicals, not Shakespeare.
It seemed like an all around strange day, but for the girl sitting in the middle of the bus, it also happened to be a very sad day as well. Rory Gilmore was still attempting to get over her separation with Dean and the field trip was proving a 'distraction'. Her mother had told her that it would be a good for her to get out of the house and the school. Leaning her head against the window, her eyes took in the city.
They were almost there, and her heart was still heavy. This was supposed to be freedom, it was supposed to be fun… it was supposed to be a distraction. But it didn't seem to be working.
"Rory, it's time to go," barked her teacher, shocking her out of her little world.
"Right, sorry," she stammered and leapt to her feet and stumbled out of the bus.
Along with the Chilton students, there were some grungy looking students sitting around. She eyed a few of them, her eyes lingering for a few seconds on a boy who was reading a book. He looked dark and… well, handsome. As she observed, his eyes flickered up to hers and she quickly looked away, walking towards her group.
"Everyone come up and grab your tickets!" the teacher barked, yet again, and the students pooled around her.
The second that they were handed out, everyone began comparing tickets. As Rory was about to grab a ticket, which was attached to two others, Paris snatched them away from her. Rory turned and glared at the pompous brat when she tore the tickets and gave them to Madeline and Louise. This left Rory with the last ticket, which was no where near any of her other classmates. She took it and glanced down at it, feeling like ripping it to shreds.
"Time to go in, everyone find your seats and watch the show! There will be a take-home quiz on the elements to be written during the summer!" the teacher barked once more and all the students grumbled before filing in. Way to ruin a field trip.
Slowly, Rory turned back to look at the kid reading the book, but he was gone. She looked around, attempting to find him, but he wasn't there. Sighing, she turned back to walk inside, when she plowed right into said book-reader.
"Hey, watch it!" she snapped. He just scoffed at her, protecting his book. When he attempted to move away, she grabbed his arm, feeling bad. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," he said with a shrug, hiding the book behind his leg and waiting for her to let him go.
"Uh, I'm Rory," she stammered, attempting to at least talk, maybe even get his name.
"I'm Jess," he said, standing stiffly, as though waiting for her permission to go.
"I… like that book!" she stated, still attempted to get him to talk.
"Okay," he said with a shrug and looked at her as though waiting for her to say something interesting.
"Right, well, I, uh, bye!" she stammered, running away to her seat.
She felt his eyes on her and she turned just as she was entering into the doors of the theatre. Their eyes caught for a moment before she attempted to smile and darted around and to her seat. When she found it, she put her bag down and stormed over to the washroom.
Inside she found Louise and Madeline 'putting on their faces'. Avoiding them like the plague, she made her way into a stall and attempted to make herself see reason.
"Forget him, remember Dean… Dean," she muttered to herself and placed her head in her hands. "Don't be stupid… You… l-l-like Dean."
After almost beating herself to a pulp, she finally got her breathing under control and cracked open the door. Louise and Madeline were gone. That was good enough for her. Opening the door the entire way, she made it out to the sinks before she saw Paris washing her hands a few sinks down the way. Sighing, she washed her hands and darted out before Paris could say anything demeaning about the circumstances with Tristin.
While slinking back to her seat, for some strange reason, her eyes kept on looking for the boy. She was expending so much effort looking for him that didn't see anyone else around her. Sitting down, she placed her head in her hands and sighed in frustration.
"Bad day, Rory?" asked whoever was beside her… which was of course the boy that she'd been attempting to find.
"Oh, God!" she snapped, jumping and looking over at him.
He was smirking and his eyebrow was up in the air. Instantly she felt that she needed to defend herself and her outburst.
"You're… you're… shh!" she muttered, not being able to think of anything more witty to say, before jerking forward in her seat and attempting to ignore him.
"What?" he asked again, the expression not changing.
"Nothing!" she harped, before noticing the dimming lights, and pointed at the stage. "Look, people, music, watch!"
"Right," he stated with a firm nod, although the smirk was still firmly on his face, before his eyes turned down to his book
As the music rose, she couldn't help but notice that he still wasn't paying attention to the stage. The first song started and she found her eyes drifting back to him again. After the third song, her eyes were firmly glued to him.
"Why aren't you watching the show?" she asked him, before realizing that she had said it out loud. She instantly took on a defensive pose, ready for the snappy response she was almost assured to get.
One of his eyebrows flicked up again and he looked at her from under his heavily-gelled hair. "Why aren't you?" he asked.
"I am!" she indignantly replied and looked back to the stage again.
"Okay" he said with a shrug.
By the time the fifth song had come around, she was back to looking at him out of the corner of her eye. His eyes rose up as well and they linked for a few seconds before she realized that she was blushing and looked away, back at the stage, in enough time to figure out that it was intermission.
"Where are you guys from?" Jess asked, finally putting his book down.
"Chilton Academy… in Hartford," she responded, looking at him carefully.
"Nice," he said, sarcastically nodding his head.
"What about you?" she asked.
"Someplace, it doesn't matter," he told her with a shrug, looking down at his book as though he was regretting talking to her.
"Are you reading that for school?" she asked, attempting to remember if she'd had to read that or if it had just been fun.
"No," he told her with a shrug, not bothering to look up at her.
"Do you use radar?" she asked him, smiling a little bit.
"What?" he asked, looking up at her like she'd grown a new head.
"Can't you look at anyone when you talk to them?" she asked him.
"I'm looking at you," he told her with a smirk.
"That's now, but what about before?" she asked, finding her voice for the first time since she'd met him.
He shrugged. "Don't you want to go… freshen up?" he asked.
"No, no, I'm fine," she told him.
"Then, do you want something to drink?" he asked her, as though searching for something for her to be doing, other than pestering him.
"No, I'm still… fine," she told him, smiling to herself.
"Well, how about we go for a walk, then? I don't think that you want to watch this either," he said, nodding towards the stage.
Rory was about to tell him that she'd never agree to that when she heard the five minute call. Her mouth closed and her eyes looked over to the stage before traveling back to him again.
"Uh… yeah, I guess, sure," she told him, brushing hair behind her ear and standing up, moving out of the row and towards the exit.
"Great," he said, standing up and moving beside her.
They both stood and watched each other for a few seconds before they both moved towards the exit.
"So, why are you here?" Rory asked him, when they were out of the theatre itself.
"My mum told me I had to come," he stated with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah…I didn't think that this was… well, uh," she muttered, attempting to figure out a way not to insult him.
"What?" he asked her with that smirk back on his face.
"You don't come here often, do you?" she asked him, phrasing it as nicely as she could.
"Don't look the type?" he asked her, smiling full on.
"No," she said, shrugging her shoulders and attempting not to look all that guilty for judging him.
"So, how do you like Hartford?" he asked her.
"It's fine, good," she said, attempting to answer him with as much enthusiasm as she could dare without appearing over-excited. She'd never left a fieldtrip before, especially not to go off with some New York boy. A frown bloomed over her face as she realized what she was doing, and she hesitated. There was going to be a test on this, wasn't there? She should go back.
"You alright?" he asked, actually starting a conversation.
"Yeah… what about you?" she asked, holding onto the fragile conversation topic and trying to keep herself from bolting.
"Okay," he told her with another shrug, but he watching her very closely. She took a deep breath and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Was it him that was causing them, or the idea that she was, technically, skipping school? Or maybe it was the fact that she was skipping school to be with him.
"So… what other kinds of books do you read?" she asked him, attempting to distract herself.
"The classics," he said, attempting to avoid sounding like too much of a dork.
"Do you read much?" she asked.
"No," he said with a shrug.
"But…?" she asked, pointing at the very-worn book.
"Well, what is much?" he asked her with a shrug.
"How many times have you read that book?" she asked him curiously.
"About forty times," he answered with a small smirk.
"Much," she stated with a firm nod.
"Come on," Jess told her, grabbing one of her arms and pulling her towards the street. One of the ushers moved towards them quickly, as though to stop them, but Jess yanked harder and pulled her into the streets. He then proceeded to duck into the traffic of the busy city, thus avoiding all the people.
Her heart was racing when she realized that this was it. She couldn't just turn and run back into the theatre, she was about to go into New York with a boy that she'd just met. Why was she doing this? It didn't matter, her mind attempted to convince her. This was a distraction, even if it wasn't the one that she'd originally wanted.
"Do you do this a lot too?" she asked him, shouting above the noise.
"Yeah," he told her, dragging her towards a staircase that led down.
"Where are we going?" she asked, attempting to get some semblance of order into her suddenly chaotic afternoon.
"A place," he told her.
"Could you be anymore vague?" she asked with a small, nervous glance as they got to the bottom, just as a train was arriving.
"Good luck, come on," he told her absently, avoiding the previous question and dragging her into one of the trains before stealing two free seats before anyone else could.
"Where are we going?" she asked him again, giving him the full puppy dog eyes from her baby blues.
"It's a park," he told her finally, as though divulging this information was painful.
"Good, we've narrowed it down to a park… Central Park?" she asked, realizing that she only really knew of the one in New York.
"No, Washington State Park," he told her, amused with her lack of New York savvy, apparently.
"Never been there," she admitted.
"How well do you know Manhattan?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh…" she said, attempting to avoid the question.
"How many times have you been?" he asked her.
"Twice," she admitted a bit guiltily.
"An outsider, then," he said, his voice teasing.
"Come to Hartford, then you'll be the outsider," she taunted back, holding her head up and attempting to keep her dignity.
"Uh huh, it's hell," he told her openly.
"Hell?" she asked, confused.
"It's too small," he told her with a shrug.
"Hartford is huge! I mean… not as big as New York, but still bigger than… well, I uh," she mumbled, trailing off.
"Hartford, huh?" he asked her curiously.
"Yeah," she told him with a nod. Neither of them really knew what they were talking about. It was just… comfortable for some reason.
"Here, this is our stop," he told her, but she moved with him instead of him dragging her along.
"Good," she said as she stood up. Almost as soon as she stood up, someone stole her place. She looked a bit uneasy, but Jess grabbed her hand and led her out the train.
"Come on," he told her, nodding towards the surface. Rory nodded and they raced up the stairs together.
"Do you come here often?" she asked him.
"Yeah, it's cool," he told her, leading her to his favorite bench.
They sat down and a sudden awkwardness overtook her. He seemed to be content just to sit there, but her and her mother had never really cared for silences.
"So," she attempted, unable still to think up a good topic.
"So?" he asked her, leaning his elbows on his knees and turning to look at her.
"Where do you live?" she asked him, searching desperately for a topic.
"I live right there, center of Manhattan," he told her, pointing at a huge apartment a few blocks in front of them.
"Looks… tall," she said with a nod. She'd never really had to deal with tall things that much, but somehow she believed that that building would give her vertigo.
"Amazing view, though," he told her.
"Could we…?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't being rude… or forward. What would he think of her suggesting that they go to his house… she'd only known him for a few minutes. "Wait, that sounded-."
"Bad?" he asked her, smirking again.
"Yeah, I meant, not with the apartment, but I mean the view and the city and, not the-." she stammered.
"Sure, let's go," he told her, standing up and leading towards his house.
"Do we need to go in the subway?" she asked him, not really wanting to go back again.
"Not if you don't want to. We still have an hour or two to kill," he told her with a shrug.
"Have you seen it before?" she asked him curiously.
His silence answered for her. So much for not seeing the musicals all that much, but then of course, he'd also said that he didn't read either. She shrugged the comment off and followed him so that he wouldn't have to touch her again. It wasn't that she didn't like it… it was more that she was scared that she'd do something stupid. He wasn't exactly the type of boy she was used to.
"You alright?" he asked again.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" she said, her voice a little higher than normal.
He hesitated in his step to turn back and give her a look, but kept trudging on to the apartment.
"Why do you keep asking?" she asked him curiously.
"No reason," he explained… or didn't.
"Okay," she accepted, in hopes of dropping the subject. She nodded her head and followed him in silence.
This time, however, the silence wasn't really numbing. The city was a lot louder than the park. Fortunately, with her thoughts running wild with images of the strange, monosyllabic boy in front of her; who she was currently observing with her full concentration, she barely realized that they'd stopped talking. Her mind was running crazy with thoughts, mostly telling her that he was very attractive. Almost instantly, she looked away and attempted to follow him without directly looking at him. Unfortunately, this also meant that she lost him in the crowd.
"Jess?" she shouted, looking around and jumping. Almost instantly she lost her sense of direction. "Jess!?"
"Hey, don't do that," Jess stated, coming up from behind her and grabbing her arm.
Almost as if it was cued, a little spark ignited on her arm, even through the clothing. She almost felt like pulling back, but that hadn't worked too well last time. While he turned around, his hand slid down her arm and captured her hand in his, so that she wouldn't be able to get lost again. Her hand burnt where his skin touched hers.
"Sorry!" Rory attempted to shout over the noise, hoping to start some sort of conversation to distract from the warm that she was feeling.
"It's alright, just stay near me," he told her.
She doubted that she'd be able to get away from him now that he had such a firm grasp on her hand, but… there was always the chance that they would accidentally let go. Right, of course, that was why she tightened her hand around his. Or at least that was what she was telling herself.
"We're here," he told her, letting her hand go and pulled her into the foyer. It was dimly lit, but there were no blinking lights, so it wasn't that bad.
"Great," she said, trailing after him into the apartment and sticking to him as he stalked up the thousands of stories of stairs. To put it mildly, she wasn't a stair person, so she was panting a little bit when they finally reached the fifteen something-ish floor.
"I guess you don't do stairs?" he asked her, noticing the panting.
"No stairs… not really," she stated, leaning against a wall.
Jess smirked and moved over so he was leaning against the wall with her. They both sat there as she caught her breath. Despite the fact that he smoked, was a bookworm, and otherwise didn't do any sort of sports, he still had more stamina than your run of the mill jock. Stairs could do that to a person, especially when you lived on the top floor.
"Ready?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow and nodding towards the roof door.
"Yeah, let's go," she said, only the hint of breathlessness on her voice now.
Jess nodded and leaded the way to the door. He shoved it open and led her out onto the roof. The wind was a lot worse.
"If you're not used to it, it can get scary," he told her, offering his hand.
Was this just an excuse to touch her? In her stubborn pride, she moved past the hand, where she then saw the city skyline. Instantly her stomach crawled into itself, and her legs started shaking. So, this was vertigo, there was an instant consensus with her body and mind that she didn't care for heights. Just as she was about to turn and bolt, she felt arms snake around her waist and couldn't help but lean into them.
"Scary," she muttered.
"Tired to warn you," he told her and she felt him shrug behind her.
"Yup," she nodded, watching the little specs that were people moving around.
"See that? There's Broadway, Empire State, Central Park, Washington State Park," he told her, pointing them out, but still keeping one arm around her waist.
"This is nice," she told him, finding herself relaxing against him.
"Yeah, you should come here more often," he told her, and she felt his nose against the back of her head. What was he doing?
"That would be nice," she told him, as she suddenly felt something other than his nose pressed against her neck. Her body tensed up, almost as though warning her about Dean-cheatage, but… they weren't dating anymore. Nevertheless, when he felt her tense, he pulled back.
"Sorry," he said, backing off a little bit.
"No, it's alright… I just, y'know, bad break-up," she told him while turning around, trying not to chase him away.
"Whatever," he told her with a shrug.
Then, before she knew what was going on, she dove into him and kissed him. It took a few seconds before he responded, but when he did, she felt the flames that had ignited on her hand and arm spread between the two of them. Their arms wrapped around each other, pulling their bodies closer.
"Rory," Jess muttered against her lips.
"Mhm?" Rory asked, leaning into him. One of her hands was in his hair and the other was around his waist.
"The show's letting out in a few minutes," he told her, having just noted what time of day it was.
"What?" Rory asked, breathless. "I have to be on that bus." She turned and bolted towards the stairs.
"Rory! Rory, wait!" Jess shouted after her, catching his wits and trying not to let her get lost.
"I have to get on that bus!" she shrieked again, tearing down the stairs.
"Then let me help you!" he told her, grabbing her and yanking her back again.
"Come on!" she told him, pushing towards the next stairwell.
"Okay, okay," he told her, his voice sounding a little bit annoyed.
"Jess?" she asked him, her eagerness to catch the bus suddenly deflating a little bit with his anger.
"What?" he asked, his voice snapping just a little bit.
"I'm sorry, that was… nice, and I wasn't being-," she attempted to explain.
"Whatever," he told her, leading her towards the exit and then through the streets.
"Jess, wait a second," she asked, tugging on his hand a little bit.
"Let's just catch the subway," he told her, directing them down another staircase.
Rory didn't particularly want to go underground again, but she had just severely wounded his male ego. She'd never really had to worry about that with Dean. This was definitely a new experience. Thus, she would go with it. Unfortunately for her plan to talk with him, the train appeared the second that they stepped down the stairs, they had to run to catch it.
"Let's go," he told her, letting go of her hand and marching into the train. Seeing as how he stole two seats, however, it was obvious that he wasn't totally pissed off.
"Jess-," she attempted again.
"It's alright," he told her with another shrug.
"Jess, please," she asked, putting a hand on his arm.
It was more the touch than the words that attracted his attention. He looked up at her with a look that was almost hostile, but mostly questioning.
"That was nice, I just can't miss this bus," she told him.
"I know," he told her with a shrug, before looking forward again.
She was just about to try again when the doors opened. He dragged her out and was about to take her up when she turned him around again. As his face turned to her, she noted that it was about to scold her for bringing up the subject again. Instead of words, however, she simply kissed him.
He responded eagerly, her sins of the past instantly forgotten. His hands slid around her waist and ran up and down her back. One of her hands laced into his hair and the other braced itself on his back.
"Forgiven?" Rory asked, looking up at him hopefully.
Jess leaned down and kissed her lightly again. "Forgiven," he agreed, then took her hand and led her up to the surface, where the theatre was right across the street.
Fortunately, the bus wasn't even there yet, and the students didn't appear to have gotten out. Rory let out a breath and Jess smirked at her.
"See, I told you that I'd get you here in time," he told her, leading her across the street and to one of the benches outside.
"Thank you," she told him, letting him lead her again.
"It's nothing," he told her with a shrug, and pulled her onto his lap.
Almost instantly they began kissing again. Why was she addicted to this; especially seeing as how she'd probably never see him again? That would be the hard question. Unfortunately, as she was pondering, she pulled back for air in time enough to see the kids leaving the theatre.
"Looks like they're being let out," Rory said, feeling nice about the 'interaction' thus far and almost sad that it was coming to an end.
"Yeah," Jess stated. He was claming up again.
"Oh my God!" she cursed, suddenly remembering the test. "I didn't see any of it! I'm going to fail!"
"Fail? What are you talking about?" he asked her, his hands still on her waist.
"The test!" she said, like it would explain everything.
"What test?" he prodded, trying to get her to speak in coherent sentences.
"The test that I'm supposed to be doing over the summer on that show which I didn't watch because I was out hanging with you, oh my God! I'm a slacker, I skipped school to hang out with a boy I just met and I kissed him and… I'm a tramp!" she said, flailing just slightly. Jess watched her in awe as she didn't appear to breathe through the entire freak out.
Instead of trying to calm her down, he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her down so that he was kissing her again. She seemed tense for a second, then quickly responded.
"You won't fail, I'll take you to it again," he promised her when they broke apart to breathe.
"You will?" she asked him, her eyes wide and believing.
"Yeah, during the summer," he assured her with a small smirk.
"Summer," she repeated, as if not believing it.
"Rory!" the teacher barked at her, the other students already filing onto the bus.
"Uh… I guess I have to go," she told him, getting up and walking away from him. She hesitated, looked back at him, and then turned to walk away again.
"Wait," he told her, grabbing her arm and turning her around.
"Wha-?" she asked, and it was about all she could get out before he kissed her.
Their arms wrapped around each other automatically before Rory pulled away, realizing that her classmates were right behind her.
"Oh, wow… that wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered to herself before pulling away completely and giving him a look before turning towards the bus again.
"Wait!" he shouted again, grabbing her hand and pulling her back into another kiss before he pulled back so he could kiss down her neck.
"Jess…" she said, her mind wanting to pull away but her body was responding to him without her permission.
"Hmm?" he mumbled through his kisses.
"I have to go, bus, ride, school," she told him, although going onto the bus was the last thing on her mind.
"What's your number?" he asked her, pulling away enough to face her.
"Number?" Rory asked. Her mind was completely blank. It was as though she was walking on cloud nine, she'd never felt this way with Dean.
"Yeah, your phone number?" he asked her, the smirk back on his face and his eyebrow popped again.
"Miss Gilmore!" the teacher summoned again.
"I have to go!" Rory suddenly realized, breaking apart from Jess.
"Rory, what's your number?" he shouted after her when she was halfway across the lot.
Rory shouted it back to him before entering into the bus with a very large grin on her face. If it weren't for the fact that she was so happy, she probably would have noticed everyone staring at her. After all, she had just made out with a strange boy from a strange, 'public', school in broad daylight in front of her classmates.
"Who's that?" Paris asked her, obviously not impressed with their kissing.
"Jess… his name is Jess," Rory stated, still out of it. Her cloud had yet to pop.
The ride back was a lot easier than the ride there. At least she wasn't completely depressed. The ride was an hour or two, but with all the questions, it seemed more like ten minutes. Before she knew it, she was off the bus and drifting into the school.
"So, I'm a little tired of this game," a voice scolded the second she had her feet on the ground.
"What game?" she asked, seeing Tristin out of the corner of her eye. Instantly her mood was ruined. She attempted to keep Jess in her mind, but it really wasn't working. She had a feeling that her exceptionally good day was about to be ruined.
"Are we meeting there or what?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, the memory slipping with her anger. After all, Tristin had just told the entire school that she was going to a concert with him, despite her growing friendship with Paris.
"The concert's tonight," he reminded her.
"Well I hope you and the empty seat next to you have a lot of fun," she snapped at him, storming away again, hoping to get away before she started raging on him.
"I'm starting to get a little irritated here," he stormed, walking beside her.
"So am I," she snapped, waving her hand at him as though to get him to go away. Her other hand held her books tightly to her chest.
"What are you mad about?" he asked, stopping her with a hand on her arm. She jerked away, both of her hands now clutching the books.
"You've been telling everyone that I'm going to this thing with you," she yelled in his face.
"Just a couple," he said, shaking the words off.
"You told Paris. Paris and I had just started getting along and now she hates me again," she informed, anger lacing every word. Suddenly Jess was pushed to the background as she took to yelling at him.
"Well, the damage is done. You may as well go to PJ Harvey with me," he coaxed.
"Never, never, I am never going anywhere with you, ever," she half-screamed and walked away again, towards the front yard. She hugged her books to her chest, hoping that Tristin would just go away so she could continue to be happy about the freak incident in New York.
"You know, these tickets cost me a fortune," he told her, stopping her again.
"They cost your daddy a fortune," she reminded him, pushing him away and started towards the courtyard again, moving faster.
"I don't even know anybody else who's into this stupid guy," Tristin whined.
"PJ Harvey's a woman," Rory hissed at him, although anyone who didn't know her that well could easily mistake it for a roar. That was nothing, although, compared to when he stole her books from her arms, simply slipping them from her grasp. "What are you doing?"
"You'll get them back when you agree to go with me," he teased, his tone still very serious, though, as he held the books a good foot away from her.
"You're pathetic, Tristan, keep the books. I'm leaving," she told him, her last straw having been drawn. Turning, she marched away from him, but was stopped cold in her tracks by the third shock of the day.
"Dean?" she asked upon seeing her ex-boyfriend in the parking lot. He was standing beside his car, obviously waiting for her. "Dean, what are you doing here?"
"I'm leaving," he told her, his arms flailing angrily as he attempted to get into his car.
"Don't go," she begged, rushing towards him and standing in front of the door to block him off.
"I shouldn't have come," he told her, backing away and attempting to not to get too near her.
"No wait!" she asked, shaking her head and walking towards him again.
"I feel like an idiot," he hissed, staying very clearly out of her reach.
"Why?" she asked, attempting to reason.
"'Cause I come all the way out here, and I see you with him," he snapped, pointing at Tristin. A momentary rush of shock echoed through her body as she thought for a second that he was talking about Jess. But… he couldn't know about Jess, could he? That was stupid. Instead, she went with reasoning the current issue. But… what about Jess? He was going to call her over the summer.
"No, Tristin was just…" she attempted to explain, but she couldn't find the words with the Jess-panic rising within her.
"I don't care," he told her, biting out each word, while attempting to throw her off. He moved past her and towards the door again.
"No listen," she stated, attempting to get to him before he took off again.
"He's got your books, Rory," he pointed out. For a second, she almost wanted to tell him that he was merely pointing out the obvious, but she bit that back and attempted to reason this as well.
"But he took them and wouldn't give them back. Please just tell me why you're here," she asked him, reaching out a hand for him again.
"I don't even know," he told her, stopping and flailing his arms again.
"Yes you do," she told him. The hope that was welling up inside her at being back with Dean seemed to be dashed with the idea of Jess back in New York.
"'Cause I thought you… forget it," he told her, doing the flailing arm things once again.
"No say it," she asked him, reaching out and finally getting an arm on his shoulder.
"I thought you were trying to talk to me," he finally, stated, some of his steam draining.
"Oh," she said, hope and disappointment somehow laced in the words and her arm fell away. She was hoping that he didn't notice the disappointment.
"I mean, you came to my house," he told her, the hope in his voice obvious.
"That wasn't me," she begged off innocently.
"My sister recognized you from the pictures in my box," he told her, shaking his head as though ashamed that she'd even attempt to contradict him.
"In what box?" she asked with amusement in her words.
"The box of stuff I have of us. Pictures and letters and everything from you," he told her. His eyes darted around, as though making sure no one else heard the comment.
"You have a Rory box?" she asked, almost happy that she wasn't the only one who was miserable with their situation; or at least… until three hours ago.
"And what was going on at the town meeting? All that stuff about writing a song?" he asked her, more of a suggestion.
"I don't know what I was talking about!" Rory exclaimed, finally doing the arm flailing. It was her term to steam.
"That had nothing to do with me? Well I must have imagined it all then. Your boyfriend's waiting," he snapped again, the kettle was boiling.
"He's not my boyfriend, I hate him!" Rory told him, reasoning once more.
"Whatever," he hissed and pushed past her again.
"Dean!" Rory begged.
"What?" he shouted back at her.
"Stop," she told him.
"Why?" he asked her, finally turning to face her head on.
"Because I-," she hesitated for a second. Could she really say this after what just happened at New York? What about Jess? What were the chances of him even calling her again? Slim to none. Despite the resolve that she felt, something in her heart was still fluttering for the dark, book-obsessed boy she'd just met.
"I l-," she began again before hesitating and looking down. She didn't… did she? She had just spent the last few months pining over him, waiting for him, to come to this decision. She looked up, tears in her eyes, and saw the desperation written on his face. "I'm sorry."
The words were like a blanket over them, capturing them in their own little world. Their eyes caught and they both hesitated, knowing what was going to happen next. Someone would have to break contact. The tears welling in her eyes finally spilled over and she blinked them away looking down and turning. She walked slowly back to the school. The motor on his truck revved and she wrapped her arms around herself, crying silently.
"Rory-," Tristin began, having seen the entire thing, but she pushed him away.
Still crying, she ran into the building and to the girl's bathroom. She didn't notice if there were other people in the stalls. Instead, she went to an empty stall and sat on the toilet, holding her head in her hands. After a few seconds, she heard water running, but didn't hear the bathroom door. Her stall door opened slowly and Paris looked inside, confused.
"Are you okay?" she asked her, obviously tense and still angry at her.
"I'm fine," Rory grumbled, wiping tears off her face.
"Why are you so upset? First you get Tristin, and now that boy in New York-," she started, and Rory felt a burst of anger run through her body.
"I didn't agree to go with Tristin!" she screamed, shocking both of them.
"Rory-," Paris said, stammering as though attempting to calm her down.
"No, I didn't agree to go with Tristin. He bought the tickets and lied to everyone to make me go with him. I'm not going with Tristin. I will never go with Tristin. If you want Tristin, take him!" Rory ranted, standing up and getting into Paris's face.
"He doesn't want me," Paris muttered, backing out of the stall and away from Rory.
"That's not my fault," Rory snapped, following her.
"What about that boy in New York?" Paris snapped back, trying to get to higher ground again.
"His name is Jess..." she said, but was unable to find any more words to use.
"And what, I thought that you were still getting over Dean?" Paris asked. Her moral high ground seeming to shatter for a few seconds as concern replaced it.
"Dean was just here…" Rory said, feeling another tear running down her cheek.
"Why are you so upset, why didn't you get back together? That way you can stop moping around here like you have been for the past few weeks," Paris mumbled at her.
"I don't love him," Rory stated. She knew the words were true, but they still hurt.
"Is that what this is all about?" Paris asked her curiously. Rory knew that Paris had never been in a relationship, she'd told her so with the Tristin situation, so the question didn't come as out of place as it might have from someone else.
"Why do you care?" Rory asked, splashing a little water on her face.
"I don't," Paris replied indignantly.
"Then why did you ask?" Rory demanded, not quite why she was angry at Paris.
"Because all you've been doing lately is walking around like a zombie," Paris finally appeased.
"A zombie?" Rory asked, wrinkling her nose a little bit.
"Yeah, you know… fictional creation, resembles a dead person walking around," Paris clarified, and Rory gave her a 'look'. Paris didn't get the meaning of the 'look' and gave her one back. "What?"
"I'm not a zombie," Rory objected, shuffling away from her and back out into the hallway.
The second that she stepped out, Tristin was waiting for her. She stopped for a moment to glare at him angrily, and then pushed past him. He grabbed her arm causing her to whip around to further glare at him.
"What?" she growled.
"Come to the concert with me. You don't have any reason to say no," he attempted once more.
"Yes, I do. I hate you, I don't want to have anything to do with you," Rory snapped, yanking her arm away once more. She was about to run away again when she noticed her books in his arms. "Give me those."
"Not until you agree to come with me," he repeated teasingly.
"No, for the last time, no!" she shouted. Angrily, she grabbed her books and took off down the hallway.
"Rory!" he called, following her.
"Go away!" she yelled back, turning the corner and going to her locker.
She opened it harshly and grabbed her bag. Its contents were shoved into it without thought. Today had started out as a bad day, proceeded to a good day, and then ended in a 'really' bad day. She was shoving the last portion of her locker's contents into her bag when Paris appeared.
"God! What now?" she snapped.
"You weren't lying about Tristin," Paris said, and Rory wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.
"I told you," Rory shrugged, zipping up her backpack and closing her locker with a slam.
"I'm sorry," Paris finally said when she was ready to run away.
"What?" she asked, turning back to look at her.
"I'm sorry… about Tristin," Paris said confidently, standing up straight and rigid.
"You are?" Rory was floored. Paris was apologizing?
"Yes… You won't get the pavement article, and I can help you on the musical test… seeing as how you probably weren't paying attention," she consoled, before turning on her heel to walk away. Rory, who was still stunned, stayed where she was and Paris turned around to face her again. "Have a good summer. I'll call you."
"Thanks…" Rory said when Paris was already halfway down the hall. "Have a good summer too!"
Paris turned to smile sheepishly as she rounded the corner. Rory smiled back. This day had been a roller coaster. Sighing, she picked up her backpack and took her cell phone out.
"Furby's House of Fluffies! Meeting all your fluffy needs," chanted Lorelai on the other side of the line.
"Hey mom," Rory greeted.
"Rory! How was the field trip?" Lorelai asked, her voice ringing with her normal cheer.
"It was… good," Rory danced, trying to figure out how to mention Jess.
"Good? What show did you see?" Lorelai inquired, her voice toning down a bit. The noises in the background suggested she was at the diner.
"Does Luke know you're talking to me?" Rory evaded, hoping that her mother would forget the question. She couldn't remember what show she 'saw'.
"Nope," Lorelai chirped, back to her cheery self. The second that the last word was out of her mouth, Luke shouted at her to get out.
"Hey mom, could you come get me?" Rory asked. She didn't want to take the bus. Actually, she didn't want to be alone.
"Why? What's the matter?" Lorelai demanded, ignoring Luke, who was still yelling in the background.
"Dean was here," Rory told her, hugging her backpack strap.
"Aww, Sweetie, what happened?" Lorelai asked. Rory heard the sound of the Diner's bell, and then the sound of a door opening and closing on a car.
"I'll tell you when you get here, okay?" Rory said, wrapping her free arm around her stomach when hugging the strap wasn't giving her any comfort.
"Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes," Lorelai informed her.
"No speeding," Rory chastised.
"Fine, twenty minutes," Lorelai pouted.
They hung up and Rory was left alone in the almost empty school. She dragged her feet out of the building, through the gates, and to the road. When she got there, the last car drove away, officially leaving her alone. Her thoughts battled each other for dominance, but Jess and whether or not to tell her mother about him hit the top three. Nervously she laced her fingers on her knees, which she'd pulled up to her chest. She leant her head against her knees and bit her lip. She hadn't gotten anywhere near deciding when the jeep pulled around the corner.
"Hey mom," she said in greeting as she threw her backpack into the back seat and slithered onto the seat.
"Hey Sweetie… are you alright?" Lorelai returned, watching her daughter carefully.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rory chirped, although it was obvious that there was something she was hiding.
"So what happened with you and Dean?" Lorelai directed.
"Oh, right, Dean… he came to see me, but…" Rory paused, realizing that she wasn't that upset anymore. Why wasn't she upset? Just that morning, she'd been totally distraught because she loved him but couldn't talk to him. Now it was like all those emotions were non existent memories.
"But…?" Lorelai prodded, realizing that there was something very wrong with this situation.
"I don't know, I don't love him," Rory whispered, looking at her hands.
"You don't love him?" Lorelai further questioned, attempting to get the situation clear in her mind.
"He came all the way here to see me, because I was trying to see him yesterday… but I don't know, when he got here I just… I couldn't say it. I don't know why, but I don't love him… I just… don't," Rory said, feeling tears arriving again.
"It's okay, baby," Lorelai told her, pulling over to the side of the road so that she could hug her daughter. She kissed the top of her head lightly and ran her hand up and down her arm.
"What does love feel like?" Rory asked curiously.
"You're asking the wrong person," Lorelai joked and kissed her forehead again.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Luke's. The Diner-man himself was busy running around, harassing guests and serving coffee. Rory and Lorelai took up their normal seat just inside the door. Rory put her head down on the table, sulking, while Lorelai shouted out a dire need for coffee.
"Luke!" Lorelai whined, which earned her a decent glare. The diner was packed, which meant that they weren't going to be served first, like they normally were.
"Where are you going?" Rory muttered when her mother, stealthily, rose from her seat and dashed to the counter. Before Luke noticed, she grabbed the spare coffee pot and two cups, which she then dashed back to the table with.
Rory joined in the coffee-stealing the second that the cup was on the table. She took the pot and poured the two cups all the way up to the brim. When they were filled, Lorelai took the coffee pot back behind the counter and inched back to the table, making sure to avoid Luke.
"Ah, coffee," Lorelai cooed, taking a sip.
"You said it," Rory agreed, echoing her mother's sip.
"So, what do you two…" Luke started, and then saw the coffee cups. "Wait a minute-."
"Cheeseburger!" Lorelai chirped cheerfully, distracting Luke from the coffee.
"How did you get those?" Luke demanded after writing down her order.
"Ceaser," Rory told him with a serious face.
"Ceaser doesn't come out of the kitchen. Lorelai-," he started again, turning toward the older Gilmore.
"I wanna cheeseburger too!" Rory burst in, cutting him off once again.
"You know what, nevermind," Luke grumbled as he swept back to the kitchen.
"Hey mom, I'm going to be right back, alright?" Rory said absently when she saw Lane motioning frantically to her from the square.
"Okay, Sweetie," Lorelai told her, instantly claiming her daughter's partially finished coffee when she left the diner.
Rory ran out to the gazebo, where Lane was lying in wait, and sat down anxiously beside her.
"Alright, what's the news?" Lane demanded, as though there was something very specific that she was asking for.
"News?" Rory asked, feeling like there was a lump in her throat. Why was it that she was so scared everyone was going to find out about Jess?
"Yeah, Dean left a couple hours ago, he said that he was going to see you," Lane prodded.
"Oh," Rory muttered, feeling relief and disappointment at the same time.
"That's it, just 'oh'? Come on. Give me something to work with here!" Lane half-shouted, attracting the attention of quite a few passer bys.
"Nothing happened," Rory told her, shrinking a little bit in her seat.
"What?" Lane deadpanned, all of her former enthusiasm seeming to wilt. "Wait a minute… you saw Dean, but… nothing happened?"
"I met someone else," Rory admitted guiltily.
"Where?" Lane inquired with a frown, before it dawned on her. "You had your New York trip today!"
"Yup," Rory further conceded, feeling a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Details!" Lane demanded, grabbing her hands and squeezing them.
"His name is Jess," Rory gushed, blushing worse and looking anywhere but her friend's intense gaze.
"Jess what?" Lane pressed.
"I… I don't know," Rory murmured, suddenly realizing how little she knew about him.
"Well… what happened?" Lane continued. Her face was showing a bit of shock. "I mean… something must have happened for you to turn Dean down."
"I kissed him," Rory admitted, blushing further.
"You what?!" Lane shrieked, not even attempting to hide her shock.
"Shh! I kissed him," Rory whispered again.
"When, where, and how was it?" Lane said, returning the whisper and crouched on the seat.
"During school, at his apartment… and it was amazing!" Rory swooned.
"Wait… you skipped the show to go to a boy's apartment… and you kissed him?" Lane clarified, looking both shocked and excited.
"Yup," Rory replied nervously, wringing her hands.
"What does he look like, can I meet him?" Lane instantly inquired.
"He's… well… he's…" Rory sputtered, having never been particularly good at relaying appearances.
"Is he hot?" Lane suggested.
Rory didn't respond, she simply nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. Lane squeezed her hands again, letting a strand of "Oh my God!" rants and then seemed to sober herself. It was obvious that she was going to start in with more questions when something else crossed her face.
"But wait… if he's in New York, and you're here… Is your mom going to let you see him?" Lane inquired, the math in her head not quite working out.
"I don't know… should I tell her?" Rory returned, relaying the question that her mind had been asking since she'd left him.
"Well… what's he like?" Lane asked, more calm now. The novelty of having a New York boyfriend was wearing off, now came the issue of whether or not he was worthy. Rory could read those thoughts written all over her friend's face.
As she was just about to answer, her phone rang and she had to break apart from her friend to answer it. She searched her person for a few seconds until she found it. The caller ID said that it was an unknown number.
"Hello?" she asked when she flipped it open. Behind the breathing of whoever called were the sounds of the city, New York City to be precise.
"Hey," Jess's voice said, and the butterflies in her stomach went wild.
"Hey, one second," she told him and gave Lane a hand signal saying she'd be right back. She jumped off the gazebo and ran towards the outer parts of the town, where not as many people would be listening.
"Is this a bad time?" he asked after a few seconds.
"No, I'm just trying to get to a place with a little less noise," she explained as she wrapped an arm around her stomach, trying to keep herself from becoming too fluttery.
"Is there a lot of noise in Hartford?" he inquired casually.
"Oh… Stars Hollow, I don't actually live in Hartford," she replied and jumped a little bit when Lane appeared over her shoulder. The frantic school-girl silent-screaming was back as Lane realized who it was.
"You don't, huh?" he continued.
"Nope, I've lived her all my life. But my grandparents live in Hartford and I go to school in Hartford so I spend a lot of time there," she carried on, grinning like an idiot.
"That's cool," he rang out, and the conversation died for a second. Rory was thinking of something to say to him when Lane snatched the phone out of her hand.
"Hello?" Lane half-demanded into the phone.
"Uh… Hey, who's this?" Jess asked. Rory danced around, attempting to get the phone back while still listening to the conversation.
"This is Rory's best friend. Are your intentions honorable?" Lane full-demanded, looking very stern; quite a bit like Mama-Kim, in fact.
"Could you put Rory back on?" Jess scoffed as Rory managed to snag the phone back, scolding Lane for having taken it.
"Jess, hi, I'm sorry, that's Lane. She's a bit overprotective," Rory explained while fending her friend off.
"It's cool, but I was wondering if you wanted to come out here this weekend," he invited, and Rory stopped fighting for a minute in shock. Lane, noticing her friend's weakened state, stopped grasping for the phone in favor of mouthing 'This weekend?' at her friend in awe.
"I guess… I mean sure! That'd be great," Rory replied when she finally found her voice.
"Do you think you could find Washington Square Park again?" he asked.
"That's the one we went to today, right? Yeah, I think so. When do you want to meet?" she attempted to clarify, unable to believe that she was saying what she was saying. Lane was gaping at her like a fish out of water, also attempting to figure out what her best friend was doing.
"Whenever," Jess stated, and she could almost see the shrug.
"How about eight?" Rory suggested and was greeted by a frown from Lane.
"As in morning?" Jess groaned.
"Yup," Rory chirped, pleased for some strange reason.
"If I'm not there, you'll have to come wake me up," he half-agreed, but he sounded sulky about it.
"But I don't know your apartment number, I don't even know your last name," she told him.
"1507 and Mariano," he informed her.
"Great… Gilmore," she stammered out, happy to have gotten more information from him.
"Gilmore?" he asked, obviously not sure what she was talking about.
"Oh! Gilmore as in Rory Gilmore," she clarified. Lane's face was now pressed against hers. If she couldn't have the phone, then she was most definitely going to listen to the conversation.
"Great, so… I'll see you tomorrow. This is long distance, and I've run out of change. If your friend is still there, tell her that I'm not going to ravage you, at least not unless you ask me," he said, the whisper of a laugh on his voice.
"I'll tell her… Bye Jess," Rory whispered.
"Bye Rory," he returned. Despite Lane being there, the moment felt intimate and close. Even after the line clicked dead, he'd run out of time, Rory hesitated in putting her phone down.
"Oh my God!" Lane shrieked the second it was closed, and jumped up and down, holding onto Rory's hand. Rory was very stationary. It was mostly due to the shock of the situation she'd just found herself in.
"I can't tell my mom," Rory finally realized.
"Why not?" Lane stopped her jumping to ask.
"Would you let your only daughter go to New York to meet someone… by themselves?" Rory explained, wilting a little bit at the thought.
"Well… no, not without meeting him and interrogating him and, oh my God I'm turning into my mother!" Lane lamented, grabbing onto Rory's sleeve in grief.
"No… you're just not crazy," Rory consoled, realizing that she actually was crazy enough to attempt to pull this off.
"But you're going, right?" Lane asked, seemingly desperate for this to happen.
"Yeah," Rory whispered, coming out of her shock a little bit more.
"Okay," Lane said with a firm nod and grabbed her friend's hand. "Then we'll need a plan."
"A plan?" Rory wearily inquired as Lane started dragging her back to the gazebo.
"Yeah, to get rid of your mom, and I'm the master of plans involving getting rid of parents," Lane stated with confidence, and Rory could most definitely say that Lane had managed to get out of quite a few scrapes involving her mother.
"Oh, right," Rory confirmed lifelessly. She didn't want to lie to her mother. She didn't want to be in this situation. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"Why?" Lane asked her, cheerful at the idea of being able to plan someone else's escape.
"Because my mom is my best friend, I tell her everything. I can't lie to her," Rory said more to herself than to Lane.
"Oh yeah…" Lane muttered, as if the idea that this wasn't a situation like her and her mother had just occurred to her.
"What am I going to do?" Rory asked desperately, her voice a bit too loud for her own good.
"What are you going to do about what?" her mother replied as she appeared at the mouth of the gazebo.
"Dean," Lane recovered quickly, looking to Rory for support in her claims.
"Yes, Dean…" Rory continued on, although it was obvious to see that both girls were grasping at straws.
"Dean, huh?" Lorelai prodded, her eyes looking between them sharply.
"You know, my mom and I are going to this prayer rally tomorrow. Why doesn't Rory come along? It's at the Hartford Mall, so we can skip a few activities to do a little shopping. Maybe it'll help?" Lane suggested before Rory could screw anything up for herself.
"A prayer rally?" Lorelai deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at her daughter, who smiled back with a shrug.
"God, food and shoes, what could be better?" Rory stated, hating having to lie to her mother. Fortunately, Lane took it from there.
"We're leaving tomorrow morning at five and we won't be back until…" Lane trailed off a little bit as she looked past Lorelai to Rory, who was motioning 'nine' with her fingers. "Nine!"
"Wait… that's over twelve hours," Lorelai pointed out, glancing at both of the girls in confusion.
"Yeah, it's the long one. In fact, I think that Mama might want to stay overnight there," Lane suggested and noted Rory's eyes growing huge and her frantic motions of 'stop!', but she ignored them. "After all, it's going to be going pretty late. We wouldn't want to wake you up in the middle of the night."
"Uh huh," Lorelai replied sarcastically, obviously not buying a word of it. "Why don't I come over and talk to your mother about it?"
"You 'want' to talk to 'my' mother?" Lane asked, blinking and moving away from Lorelai as though she had suddenly developed a rare disease.
"Good point," Lorelai muttered, but sighed and looked at the two girls. Both of them were looking hopeful, but Rory also looked guilty. "There isn't something that you two are hiding, is there?"
"Hiding, nope, not a thing!" Lane chirped, not allowing Rory to speak because she would ruin it all.
"So you're asking me if you can go to Hartford for the weekend… the day before you leave?" Lorelai re-stated.
"Dean-," both girls began at the same time, and then gave each other 'looks'. Lane won the 'looking' contest and Rory backed down.
"I just thought that it would be good to get out of town for a couple of days! You know, before the rumor mill starts," Lane finally assured.
"So you're not going to meet someone in Hartford that you don't want me to know about?" Lorelai finally asked.
"Uh… nope, just a prayer rally, although there might be some guys there. You never know, pigs have been known to fly," Lane rambled, still trying to get out as many words as she could before Rory piped in and ruined in all.
"Rory?" Lorelai asked, hoping her daughter would enter into the conversation at some point.
"Yup?" Rory chirped, keeping her involvement to a minimum, which was obviously worrying by the look on her mother's face.
"You want to go to a prayer rally?" Lorelai implored, attempting to get an answer out of her daughter that was more than one syllable.
"First time for everything," Rory explained, linking arms with her mother and leading her towards the diner.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rory!" Lane shouted, and the two girls shared a 'moment' as they descended upon the diner.
"But… a prayer rally? Two days with Mrs. Kim?" Lorelai reasoned. "Did you remember to take your shots this month?"
"I just… don't want to be around when it comes out that… I did that to him," Rory sniffled, taking her arm out of her mother's and wrapping it around her waist self-consciously.
"Rory, you know that you can tell me anything, right?" Lorelai said, although it was obvious that the remark was pointed.
"I know," Rory replied, although her voice was barely above a whisper.
Lorelai looked at her daughter pointedly for a moment, but Rory wouldn't bend. This was the one thing in her life that she would not be able to say anything about. When Luke came over to refill their coffee, he saw the separation in the ranks immediately.
"Coffee?" he suggested, noticing that both of their cups were completely empty.
Both women nodded in complete unison, but neither said a word.
"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, but didn't get an answer as someone across the diner dropped their plate, shattering it on the ground.
"So," Rory started, but couldn't think of anything to say after it.
"You can go… But whatever stupid teenage thing you're doing tomorrow, that you think you can't tell me, I want you to know that I trust you. Be careful, okay babe?" Lorelai said after a sigh.
Rory felt her stomach flutter and her eyes slowly rose to her mother's. They shared another 'moment' before Lorelai turned to start shouting at Luke for their cheeseburgers, which still hadn't come.