Summary: One-shot. I think the title explains it all; 10 year old Rory & Jess in fourth grade, in the cafeteria at Stars Hollow Elementary School. Loosely based on what happened to my friends & I at lunch today.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing TT I wish I did.
"My mom gave me five dollars today!" a 10 year old Rory Gilmore bragged proudly. A grin on her face, her blue eyes exceptionally bright this afternoon, she flipped the dollar bills in front of Jess Mariano's face.
He scowled, but the scowl slowly turned into a smirk. He put his hand in his back pocket (the one his latest book wasn't in) and showed her a ten dollar bill. "Luke would never give you that much money for school lunch!" Rory protested.
"Who said Luke gave it to me?" Jess smirked mischievously. Rory's eyes widened with astonishment.
"You stole money from the register AGAIN?!" she exclaimed. He shrugged. "Fine, be evasive", she teased.
They stood up to get on the lunch line. Rory wrinkled her nose at the sight of the green salad in front of her. "Gross", she commented
They moved past it and Jess saw some kind of watery meat loaf being thrown on everyone's plate. "No, that's gross", he muttered to her. She laughed, and he fought the urge to grin.
As the lunch lady tossed the meat loaf on their plate, Rory turned her nose up and walked to the end of the line. Jess followed her, still staring disgustingly at his meat loaf. Rory picked up a Fruit Roll Up and gave her five dollars to the lunch lady at the cashier.
Jess paid for his meal, murmuring, "If you could call it a meal" as he did so. Rory smacked him on the arm and smiled her bright smile apologetically at the woman. They sat down in their previous seats.
"Whatcha reading now?" Jess asked her curiously as she took her book out of her bag.
"The Fountainhead", she announced. She paused before looking at the cover. "By…Ayn Rand."
"Huh."
"What?" Rory asked. Jess looked up at her, confused. "What? You said 'Huh', which means you have something to say", she explained.
Jess shook his head. "No, it's just…I read a little of that book and I personally think she's a political nut", he told her.
Her blue eyes flashed, and he immediately knew a long rant would follow. "Not true! So far, the book is really good and even though I don't really understand all of it, I know I'll understand it later on! It's really good. I think you should try it again."
He smirked, glad he knew her so well. "Whatever. No thanks."
She continued, not satisfied, "Well, it's better than your Hemingway! He drives me to sleep."
"So I've heard", he said distractedly, having opened his own novel. He was intently reading, and he could hear Rory babbling on. The next thing he knew, his book was lying on the floor.
"Jess! Were you listening?" she accused. He allowed himself to grin a little and she playfully slapped him on the shoulder.
He looked at her try to open her Fruit Roll Up and offered, "Want me to?" She smiled, because it was unusual for him to act so nice, and nodded. She handed it to him.
He carefully opened it, and before she could grab it back, proceeded to lick the Fruit Roll Up. Rory's eyes grew large and she smacked him on the shoulder again, harder this time. "JERK!"
Jess smirked. "Want some?" he asked casually, ready to tear off a piece. She glared at him.
He didn't even realize she was upset until he heard sniffles. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not knowing what to do. He hated when Rory cried, because she was crying and because he had never been comfortable around crying girls. "I'll buy you another one, Rory. I'm sorry", he apologized, reminding her he still had leftover money.
"Will you read The Fountainhead again, too?" she asked, looking up at him with drops of tears on her face.
Jess sighed. "Fineeeeeee", he drawled out. She let out a squeal and took his hand to get her new Fruit Roll Up.
6 Years Later…
"Thanks for buying my basket", a 16 year old Rory said graciously.
"Well now I'm broke, thanks to you", Jess teased, sitting down next to her. They were seated at the bridge, their favorite reading place. The Bid-A-Basket festival had begun hours ago, and she had managed to drag him there and buy her freakin' basket.
"Please, I know you stole it from the register, anyway", she smiled knowingly. He looked away, putting his hands up in surrender.
"Whatcha reading now?" he asked. And she grinned because it was her favorite question to hear, and his favorite to ask.
"The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand", she answered without hesitation this time.
"Huh", he replied and her face broke out into a smile at the familiar situation. "I think I may remember you mentioning that awhile ago", he continued, playing along.
"And there you go with your 'huh' again", she taunted. He rolled his eyes and smirked.
There was a glint in her eyes, and Jess recognized it. It was when she was up to something. He knew he would figure it out later. "So shall we?"
"Shall we what?" she asked, confused. She was lost in his brown eyes, though she would never admit it. Hell, he had been her friend since forever. Why was she thinking these thoughts?
He grinned as he felt her eyes on him. "Shall we eat?" he clarified. She woke up from her daze and looked at him, alert.
She suppressed a giggle. "Uh, sure", she responded, sliding the basket over to him. He pulled the flap open and searched through the contents.
He first took out a container with salad in it. He stared at it in wonderment, knowing Rory was the last person to be eating salad. Jess took another container out, this time filled with meat loaf. He knew she had tried to cook it because it looked deformed.
His eyes danced with amusement as realization sit in. "Well, that's just gross, Miss Gilmore", he smirked. She smiled proudly.
"There's two more things", she told him, pointing inside the basket. He was confused now. He was almost positive there was a Fruit Roll Up lying somewhere in there, but two more things? He reached into the basket and found his answer.
Jess pulled out two identical packs of Fruit Roll Ups and Rory grinned excitedly. "One for EACH of us", she explained at his bewildered look. He nodded in understanding and handed her one.
She opened hers without his help this time, and he smiled a little at how they were growing up. He opened his and at the same time, they licked the Fruit Roll Up. She cracked up laughing and he had a wide smirk on his face.
"Oh, there's one more thing!" she told him, and he reached around the seemingly empty basket. He pulled out a crumpled, folded piece of paper and looked at it in surprise. It read "Pro/Con List…For Dating Jess". His smirk grew wider.
"So, what are my Pros, Rory?" he asked casually with a teasing grin. She smiled and rolled her eyes. And just like they had licked their Fruit Roll Ups, at the same time, they leaned forward and kissed.
When he pulled away, he breathed out, "I'm sorry. I'll give you another one" like he had bought her another Fruit Roll Up years ago. She nodded eagerly and their lips met again. Thank god for Fruit Roll Ups.