A/N: Okay, so. AU. Rory and Jess have never meet. He never came to Stars Hollow. They are complete strangers. She doesn't even live in the area. She's probably still going out with...Dean. Jess is probably dating someone else, too. Ergh. I was grooving to Stars, Coldplay, and Death Cab for Cutie as I wrote this. Well, just keep that in mind as you read.
Summary: AU. Two strangers. A chance meeting. Literati oneshot.
Closer
Rory Gilmore was spending the day in the city, drinking in the foreign sights and sounds and perpetual rush that was Manhattan. The cold November skyline expanded into forever as she walked down 7th Street, and for a moment she felt like the only person in the world. Stars Hollow was unquestionably pretty, (the words 'quaint' and 'lovely' come to mind) but Manhattan had a kind of bleak beauty that struck some chord deep within her.
Perhaps it was all nonsense. Another quixotic imagining of hers inspired by some novel she'd read, a silly little fantasy conjured out of her love for fiction. But perhaps not--who knew?
Impulsively, she turned into a colorful little bookshop, looking forward to drowning yet again in paper and ink, comfortable memories and tragic heroes who could promise her the world with their eyes. Dark-haired and brooding, she thought to herself absent-mindedly. I like those the best.
She coughed slightly from the peppery, spicy scent that was the bookshop; her arm outstretched to a higher shelf for a volume of Dickens' that had caught her eye. Her hand brushed something warm--she frowned, puzzled. It couldn't have been the book.
She looked up to see her fingertips grazing another pair, and she quickly pulled back, face flushed with embarassment. A pair of dark eyes captured hers, slightly puzzled and questioning.
"I'm sorry." she managed to say. "I didn't know that you wanted it."
He shook his head, peering at her from between the shelves. "It's fine--you can have it."
"Are you sure?" she asked heisitantly. She felt very self-conscious all of a sudden.
"Yeah." he said easily, smiling slightly.
"Thanks." she said quietly, tucking the book under her arm.
They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Silence hung between them.
"Um, I'm Rory." she offered, holding out her hand. "Rory Gilmore."
He took her hand, and a pleasant tingle coursed through her at the contact. He held on longer than necessary, his touch pleasantly lingering as he reluctantly let go.
"Jess Mariano." he said, his smile sending an unexplainable fluttering to her stomach.
He shifted his feet, suddenly at a loss for words. They both were.
"Let me walk you out." he heard himself say. It wasn't a statement. It was a question, with the hint of a plea. The urgency in his voice surprised even himself.
They walked in silence through the cramped room, approaching the front of the store where he paid for the book, cutting off her protests with a wave of his arm.
They stopped at the entrance of the store and looked at each other.
"Well." he said, with a wry twist of lips. "I guess this is where we say goodbye."
"Bye, Jess." she said, voice low.
"Bye, Rory." An unexplicable break.
"Wait."
And like a novel, just as she was walking away, he caught her wrist in one fluid gesture and kissed her once, softly, before letting her go.
She walked away smiling, and he watched her retreating figure as she disappeared into the crowd.
Fin
A/N: Hey, guess what? I just found out that if you click the little grey review box, Milo wooshes through cyberspace and appears instantly by your side! It's amazing! Honest.