Disclaimer: I do not own Girlmore Girls

Rory and Jess meet post Yale. They haven't seen each other since Jess left town after Say Goodnight, Gracie. Rory is working for a small paper in New York living a single flat. Jess is working at a coffee bar in Manhattan and living with his girlfriend in Brooklyn.

Rory Gilmore slipped her jacket over her shoulders and her book under her arm. Leaving her work building for the afternoon she strolled down the street towards her routine destination, Starbucks. She looked up at the sky apprehensively. The clouds over the city seemed to be getting darker and a wind was picking up. As she took the familiar steps to get her usual coffee and muffin her mind wandered over her current project. It was a piece on a new art exhibit opening in Brooklyn. She was torn from her musings when a drop of rain hit her square in the forehead. She looked up and with a clap of thunder the rain poured down. She hastened her pace and extended her arms overhead fruitlessly trying to stop the soaking. Squinting into the distance she tried to make out the Starbucks sign but it wasn't in sight yet. The rain started to sink into the crisp pages of her book and her clothes began sticking to her. She ducked into the doorway of the nearest shop and peered inside. Dimly lit, there were a few people in the small shop, they were serving coffee. She stepped in and took off her jacket trailing water behind her on the floor as she took a table. She set her book down and pushed her wet hair behind her ears as a young man stepped up to take her order

"Sorry about bringing the storm in with me," Rory gushed, "No problem," the waiter replied dryly, "the floor is due for a wash."

Their eyes met and instantly they recognized each other.

"Coffee- and a muffin." Rory said quickly, mechanically. Her eyes darted down to her table and she stared fixedly at her book holding her breath. Jess stood there for a moment staring at her and waiting for her to return his gaze or to say something but she did neither. So he said, "Coming right up." and walked away.

Rory pushed out a sigh and discreetly glanced over her shoulder to the far end of the room to affirm that it was truly Jess who was pouring a coffee for her. She was in disbelief. She must have walked by this coffee bar everyday on her way home from work and never had she chanced a glimpse inside. She sighed again. It seemed so long ago that she had been caught up in the melo-drama of high school, naive and vulnerable. She remembered how intense her emotions had felt during her teenage years. There had been so many things she wanted to say to Jess after he had left but her wound had healed with time and he had been long out of her mind.

Behind the counter Jess poured out a cup of coffee slowly. Usually he was quick with his words but he couldn't think of the right thing to say to Rory. He had considered many different ways that he might approach her but the opportunity to talk to her had presented itself so conveniently he hardly knew how to take advantage of it. He knew this would be his only chance to reconcile with her. He tried not to let this pressure affect him. She had always been in the back of his mind.

Jess placed a hot mug in front of Rory, "Your coffee."

"Oh did I mention I wanted that to go?" She pushed her hair behind her ears again self-consciously.

"It's raining." He stated.

"A little rain never hurt anybody." She stood up and pointedly avoided his eyes.

"Isn't that why you came in here, to get out of the rain?"

Rory picked up her jacket, "I think it's letting up, anyways I didn't realize the time-"

"Look, how long are we going keep this little charade up? I don't know about you but my acting skills aren't up to par."

She looked at him, tilted her head and without raising her voice said, "Well, you used to be great at acting like you cared about me so I'm sure all you need is a little practice." She turned away from him and started to walk towards the exit. Jess overtook her and put himself between her and the door.

"Cold words. Should I get my sweater before we continue this?"

"No being cool isn't your problem- it's that you can't take the heat. I mean that's why you left isn't-"

He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her forcefully towards the table where she had left her book, "I know, I'm a jerk. I stand out from the good people of Stars Hollow but here in New York we appreciate diversity. It's raining. Drink your coffee. I'm glad I bumped into you."

"Oh you're glad? Isn't that nice. You thought, gee, wouldn't it be great if I bumped into Rory sometime. Then I could explain why I mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth while we were in the middle of a serious relationship."

"It was serious?"

She narrowed her eyes, "You're just dodging words."

"What, word dodging?"

She let out a quick laugh of disdain, "You will never change."

He smiled, "You haven't changed either." and sat down. Rory frowned and looked at him for a minute before sitting down as well. She took a long drink from her coffee and crossed her arms against her chest. Jess leaned across the table, smoothed the skin on her forehead and said, "Don't scowl. Your face will stay like that." Imperceptibly her body stiffened.

"I should take it from you." Rory raised eyebrows sceptically, "Do you have anything to say for yourself or is this a lost cause?"

"What do you do? Where do you live? You happy?" He spouted a string a questions.

Her face softened and taking another sip of her coffee she nodded, "Yeah. I'm happy. I'm living in Manhattan right now. I write for the Village Voice, have you heard of it?"

"Oh, yeah. It's a good publication." Jess pointed to a shelf near the counter that had several copies of the previous weeks paper.

"So you read it, so…you must have seen my by-lines then?"

"I dug your story about the Brooklyn Bridge. Last thing you can do in New York for free. They're going to start charging us to breath the air soon."

"So really, you knew I live I town. And what I do."

"Hey I just wanted to hear it from you- there are a lot of ghost writers floating about these days." Several people entered the quiet coffee shop and Jess put up one finger telling Rory to hold on one minute. He sauntered over to the costumers and began to serve them.

Rory put her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek to her palm. She felt that she had given in too easily to Jess. He had left her hanging and he had never tried to contact her or to offer any sort of apology or even an explanation. Here he obviously knew that she was living in Manhattan, knew the very paper that she wrote for and he still did not make any attempt to reach her. The more she mulled over this the more her forgotten anger resurfaced. And he spoke to her now as if nothing had ever happened. A lump rose in her throat as she watched him stroll towards the coffee counter. He was so oblivious to the feelings of others. Self absorbed, arrogant, callous. With his back turned to her she jumped up impulsively and quietly left the shop. Outside it was still raining. Rory lifted her jacket above her head and without hesitation took off down the street towards her flat.

Jess looked up as the door of the coffee bar clicked close. Turning he caught a swift flicker of motion but she was gone. He breathed out heavily and, frustrated, said, "Rory..." under his breath.