Author's Note: Hey there readers

Author's Note: Hey there readers! This is my first attempt at a long Jess/Rory pairing story. I'm kind of weird in that I'm a die-hard Rogan fan one minute, and I love Literati the next. My dream scenario is when Rory is dating one of them and friends with the other, but that's not really likely. Now. I know that there are a lot of stories in which Jess and Rory grow up together, but I thought I'd try it with my own little twist. Hope you all enjoy. Oh! Right, some things you might want to know: Jess doesn't know his father, just like in the show. His mom is still flighty and flirty Liz, but she ends up shipping off her son to her big brother Luke when Jess is only 6 years old, not 17. Jess keeps to himself mostly, and grows up with only two people in the world he can depend on: Rory and Luke. Lorelai approves of Jess in this story, mostly because Rory and Jess have grown up together. Allllrighty then, I'll just let you read now.

Prologue:

Thirteen year old Rory Gilmore walked through the door of the diner for an after-school snack. Anyone who didn't know her wouldn't see anything wrong. In fact, most people who did know her were oblivious to the fact that something was troubling the young girl. But Jess saw. He always knew. From his spot at the counter, he watched as his best friend walked in the door, and immediately suspected that something wasn't quite right.

"Wassa matter?" he said through a mouth full of fries.

Rory's head snapped up, and electric blue met coffee brown.

"Nothing. I'm fine," she said, facing away from Jess. But in the one second that their eyes had connected, she had given it away.

"Bridge," Jess said simply, scribbling a note on a napkin to Luke telling him where they were, taking her arm, and dragging her out of the diner.

"Jess, really. I'm ok, you don't have to…" Rory struggled uselessly against Jess's vice-like grip around her wrist. Before she knew it, they were at their spot. It wasn't like they had ever officially voiced it, but both of them found the bridge as the place where they could really connect; really be themselves. Rory sat down and sighed.

"Talk," Jess said, staring intently at her. His monosyllabic ways could really get on someone's nerves fast, but Rory knew that he cared about her more than he dared show. He was there to listen to her problems, no matter how silly or girly they may be.

"It's nothing, really, you'll think it's stupid," she mumbled, looking away from him, embarrassed.

Jess tilted her head up with his finger and raised his eyebrows at her in a silent challenge. Without saying a word, he had clearly said: Wanna bet?

"Fine. It's… just… well at lunch today I overheard some girls talking, and they said something that upset me," Rory started.

Jess's eyes narrowed. "Who do I need to beat up?" he said, his intensely protective nature when it came to Rory flaring up.

She let out a small laugh. "They didn't say anything to me; it's just something I overheard."

"What?" Jess said finally, after a few minutes of silence.

"They were talking about how guys and girls could never really be friends. Well, they said that they could be friends, they just couldn't be good friends, because no matter what, a boy is never going to tell a girl when they have their first kiss, or when they like someone, and a girl is never going to tell a boy any of that either. And they said that you were supposed to tell your best friends this kind of thing. And… I don't know it's silly…" she trailed off when she saw Jess grinning at her.

"And what? You think that we can't be best friend because I'm not going to tell you when I have my first kiss?" Jess said.

"Stop looking at me like its ridiculous," Rory said, glaring.

"Well, it is ridiculous. You know you're my best friend, Rory," he said, placing his hands on either side of her face. When he saw that he still looked unconvinced, sudden inspiration struck. "I'll tell you what. I promise to tell you when I have my first kiss, if you promise me the same thing."

"Really?" Rory said, a smile gracing her beautiful features.

"Yeah, really. Actually, I think I'm going to be having mine some time today," he said, quite casually.

Rory tried not to look too disappointed as she said, "Oh, wow… that's…"

Jess leaned down quite suddenly and pressed his lips to hers. His lips moved against hers nervously and sweetly, in the act of a gentle first kiss.

When he pulled away, her eyes were closed, but she quickly opened them and stared at him in shock, her bright electrifying gaze piercing right through him.

"You- just- kissed me," she managed after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah, I remember, I was there," he said, smirking.

"You aren't supposed to- you just can't go around kissing people!" she said, trying to sound angry, but grinning like mad.

Jess stared at her, a crooked grin on his face. "Huh," was his eloquent response. "I think I just did."

Love it? Hate it? Should I continue? I'd like to have quite a few reviews encouraging me to continue before I'll post anything again. This piece works as a one-shot, so I'm in no hurry to update. Please please please review and tell me what you think!!