Author's notes: This was a fun little project, and just the thing to get the writing bug back into my system! My deepest thanks to Jenepel, Filo, and Charmed Angel, without whom I wouldn't have been able to do it.
Jess sits in an armchair at Mocha Emporium, typing intermittently on his laptop while pausing occasionally to sip from a cup of coffee. Suddenly, Joey Ramone's voice cuts through the calm atmosphere of the coffee shop loudly singing "Come on Let's Go." Jess jumps and nearly spills his coffee. "Shit!" he exclaims. "Sorry," he says to the other patrons, fumbling with his cell phone. He smirks to himself when he sees the name on his phone. "You changed the ring on my phone again," he greets.
"Hello to you, too," Rory responds. "I'm at Alvin's. You want ice cream?"
"Maybe..." Jess says, looking out the window into the bright sunlight.
"How much work do you have left for today?" she asks.
"I got four chapters done, so I might be ready to break soon."
"Ooh, my hardworking man," Rory teases. "Crawford must be counting their blessings that they've got you here in Springfield."
Jess makes a noncommittal sound, something like "hmm," and he concentrates on the computer, typing and peering at the screen.
"Come on," she continues. "Come meet me for ice cream. Treat yourself."
Jess stands and stretches, and then sits back down on the edge of the seat. "I prefer the treats you give me," he tells her, his tone infused with subtext. He hits a few buttons on the computer and then closes the lid when it goes dark.
"As double entendres go, that wasn't one of your better ones." Rory is unimpressed.
"I'm tired," Jess says by way of explanation. "I'll come up with a better one later."
"Bring me coffee?" she requests.
"Of course," he assures her; "as long as you promise not to screw with my phone anymore."
"You're no fun." Jess can hear the pout in Rory's voice and he chuckles lightly despite himself.
The two sit down on a bench outside with their ice cream. Jess hands Rory a cup of coffee and she alternately sips at it and spoons her ice cream into the cup.
Jess shakes his head. "You're ruining the good ice cream."
Rory giggles. "Mom would say I'm ruining the good coffee. I say I'm getting the best of both together."
Jess rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "How'd the interview go?" he asks her. His tongue swipes at a drip of ice cream on the side of the cone.
"It wasn't an interview, really," Rory says, shifting slightly. "It was just... a talk."
"Okay, then." Jess raises his eyebrows. "How'd the talk go?"
"It was... it was good, I think," Rory says thoughtfully. "I've been hoping for a features position, but they have an opening for a columnist."
"Which paper is this again?" Jess asks. He takes a napkin from Rory's lap and wraps it around the cone.
"Well, it's mostly for Mass Live, the website," Rory says, "but their staff overlaps with The Republic, the print paper."
"So maybe a little of both?" Jess says. "That'd be cool."
"Yeah, it definitely would be. I like the online news thing, but you know how I love the actual, physical newsroom."
"Would the office look that different depending on what kind of publication it is?" Jess asks. He finishes off his cone and tossing the paper in the trash can next to the bench.
"Yes!" Rory says strongly. Jess gives her a look, and she shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe not."
"You just prefer the actual, physical newspaper in your hands to the website on the screen," Jess says knowingly, stretching his arm across the back of the bench behind Rory.
"Yeah..." Rory says, leaning back. "I guess so. I know it's silly."
"Not really," Jess tells her.
Jess's arm comes to rest around Rory's shoulders as she continues to sip her ice cream-laden coffee. They sit together in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the warm afternoon.
"I like summer," Rory says. "I think it's my favorite season."
"You said that about spring," Jess reminds her. "And fall. Maybe winter, too; I don't remember."
"Well, today, summer is my favorite," Rory decides. "It's been a while since I had a real summer break—"
"Which is good," Jess interrupts, "because we both know you'd go nuts if you had nothing to do for three months."
"But it still feels more relaxed somehow," Rory continues. "Plus, I like it when it's like this – hot, sunny, not too muggy."
Jess smiles and kisses the top of her head.
"Hey!" Rory exclaims suddenly, sitting forward.
"What?" Jess drops his arm and looks at her, utterly lost.
"Look!" she says, pointing into the distance.
"Look at what, Rory? What are we doing?" He squints, trying to figure out what has her so excited.
"Look there!" Rory repeats, insistently pointing her finger. "The billboard!"
"Which billboard?" Jess sees about five of them.
Rory turns to Jess, her eyes wide and her expression serious. "There's one for Mass Live. And I never noticed it before just now."
Jess lets out a breath and leans back against the bench, suppressing a smirk. "That doesn't mean—"
"It's a sign, Jess," Rory interrupts him, her tone excited.
"Yes, it is a sign," he agrees. "It's a billboard. That's also known as a sign."
"Not that kind of sign. It means something. It's fate."
"There's no such thing as fate," Jess states.
"Of course there is," Rory says, leaning back and tucking her arm into his. "Don't you think it was fate that we met? Or got together – the second time, I mean. It was meant to be that we would fall in love again when we were ready."
"Was it meant to be that we'd spend six years apart, torturing ourselves and each other and dancing around what was 'destined'?"
"What do you call it if it wasn't fate, huh, Mr. Skeptic?"
"Luck." Jess shrugs. "Or just life. Whatever. "
"So what do you make of the billboard showing up today, just when I had my meeting with them and I'm trying to decide what to do?"
"Simple," Jess explains. "It's always been there, you just never took notice of it because it didn't mean anything to you personally until today. So it never caught your eye."
"Well, I think it's a sign," Rory says stubbornly, pouting slightly.
"Fine," Jess relents. "It's a sign."
Rory turns to him and grins. "I knew I'd wear you down." She tilts her face up for a kiss. "Thank you," she says sweetly.
"So, what did the crop circle tell you?" Jess asks, nudging her slightly. "Are you gonna take the job?"
"I think so," Rory says slowly. "It might be fun to do a weekly column."
"What would you write about? Did they give you a topic?"
Rory shakes her head. "No, they said that if I wanted the position, we'd talk and figure out something that both sides would be happy with."
Jess nods in understanding. "Cool. Tailor-made position."
"Yeah, they seemed like they were really anxious to have me there. I might hold off a little more." Rory absently lets her fingers play with Jess's while she talks. "Might let them woo me a little more."
"Woo you?" Jess repeats, laughing.
Rory pokes his side. "What would you call it?"
Jess tilts his head to the side, considering the question. "Tempt," he suggests. "Recruit. Coax. Solicit."
"Thank you, Roget's Thesaurus," Rory says irritably, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Hey," Jess says in a serious tone, tugging lightly at Rory's arms. She resists, pulling away, but then relents, looking at him. "This is big." He takes her hand, lacing their fingers together. "The biggest print news in the area sought you out and they're willing to do anything to get you."
The door to the apartment flies open as Rory walks inside, squishing with every step. "I hate the stupid summer," she complains loudly, kicking off her sandals by the door and unceremoniously dumping her bag next to them. She plucks at her t-shirt, which is sticking to her skin.
"That's not what you said last week." Jess's voice floats from the other room, getting closer with every word.
"Yeah, well, things change," Rory grumbles, wiping raindrops off her forehead.
"Whoa," Jess says when he walks in. "I like the new look." He slowly circles her. Rory rolls her eyes, her annoyance visibly growing. "I am disappointed, though."
"Disappointed?" Rory repeats, breaking away from Jess's gaze and heading toward the bathroom.
"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't enter any wet t-shirt contests without me being there," Jess replies in an innocent tone. "Although," he continues, following her, "I do appreciate you letting me see the aftermath."
Rory rubs her hair with a towel. "What are you talking about?" she asks Jess, finally turning her attention to him.
"Your wet clothes," he says, fingering her dripping sleeve. "Do you want help?"
"Help?" Rory repeats. "Getting undressed? I think I can handle it."
"Are you sure?" Jess grins slyly. "I'm pretty good at removing your clothes."
Rory shakes her head, but she smiles. "You sure are."
Jess slips his hands under the bottom of Rory's shirt, his hands warm and dry on her damp skin. "It's not good to stay in wet clothes," he murmurs, leaning down to kiss her neck.
"No," Rory agrees, her breath catching. "That's not good at all."
"You should take them off," Jess continues, concentrating on one spot just below her hairline. "And I could warm you up."
Rory inhales sharply, letting her arms fall to her sides. The towel slips from her fingers and drops to the floor. "Yeah," she breathes.
Hours later, several articles of clothing lay strewn across the floor of the bedroom, Rory's wet clothes mixed with Jess's dry ones. Jess rolls over to face Rory, propping his head up on his elbow. "Hey," he says, reaching out with his free hand to stroke her arm.
"Hey yourself," she returns.
"All warm and dry now?" he asks, his hand coming to rest on her hip.
"Oh, yeah," she agrees. "I definitely prefer that way to towels."
"Good to know." He grins at her. "So," he says after a pause. "Big day tomorrow."
"It's not that big of a deal," she protests weakly. "It's just a new job."
"Mmm-hmm." Jess is unconvinced. "What'd you do today?"
"Research," Rory says vaguely.
"On?" Jess prompts.
Rory rolls her eyes, but she seeks out his feet with hers under the covers. "On the area, for the column, and on the paper itself, and on the history of the website and the evolution of the paper with the website..."
"You nervous at all?" he asks.
"A little," she admits. "But I know it'll be fine. It's just normal, first-day jitters."
Rory walks into the second bedroom which they'd set up as an office, shuffling through the papers she's holding. When she reaches the desk, she stops suddenly, her papers sliding to the floor. Her jaw drops and she picks up the newspaper that's sitting on the desk, a big red circle on the side of page 6 around a column. "Jess!" she shrieks. "Jess!"
Jess appears at the doorway, leaning on one arm against the frame. "Yes?" he asks innocently.
"What is this?" she demands, shaking the paper at him.
"That," he says, "is a newspaper. I'm sure you've heard of it."
"It's my column," she says with wonder, laying the newspaper back down on the desk. "But it's not out until tomorrow." She runs her fingers over the title: "Small-Town Girl in the Big-City Whirl: How to find small town appeal in the city. By Rory Gilmore."
"I got an advance copy," Jess says offhandedly.
"Advance copy?" Rory repeats. "How did you...?"
"It wasn't a big deal." Jess shrugs. "I talked to the editor and the printer, and there we are."
Rory flies at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," she mumbles into his neck.
"You're not done," he tells her.
She pulls back, looking at him with a bemused expression. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're not done," he repeats. "There's something else on the desk."
Rory walks slowly back to the desk, interrupting herself with confused looks at Jess. She breaks into a grin when she sees what he was talking about. On the desk is a notebook – her favorite kind, with the vinyl cover and the folders inside – and a variety pack of her preferred type of pen. The whole package is tied with a white ribbon, which she recognizes as having been hanging around the apartment for a while, neither of them sure where it came from and neither getting around to throwing it out. She lets out a small squeal of delight.
Jess comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Well?"
Rory turns in his arms, unable to stop grinning. "I – think – you're – incredible." She punctuates each word with a kiss.
Author's notes, part 2: This was written for the Lit Ficathon, for lucillemabel. The prompt was "ribbon, billboard." It fits into the same universe as my other stories, "After All" and "Brothers" but stands alone.