A/N: Short narration, this time. Just have fun. And review.
Disclaimer: No.
"Hey, Mariano!" someone yelled. Jess sighed, frustrated. "What is it, Cam?"
"God, Jess, why so antagonistic?" Cam said, mocking sadness.
"Jeez," he rolled his eyes. "This is the fourth time you've interrupted me in the last ten minutes. I'm not about to write you a song."
"Alright," Cam nodded. "Fair enough."
"You gonna tell me what it is this time?" Jess said impatiently.
"Calm down, Mariano." he said. "I was just about to." He paused. "So I'm passing the front desk and I hear Gary arguing with this chick, real loudly, you know? Nice-looking lady, too. Big blue eyes, sweet smile; girl-next door type, right?"
Jess clenched his fists. "Hurry it up, Cam."
"So I come over," Cam says, ignoring him. "All smooth, you know, and say 'Is there a problem, miss?' And she flashes me a smile and is like, 'Yes, there is, actually. I'm looking for Jess Mariano?' And so here I am, telling you that there's some hot girl waiting for you at the desk."
"You seriously could've said that in about two words." Jess says, getting up. "I'll go over there, okay?"
"Have fun," Cam said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh, God," Jess mumbled, walking towards the desk.
He stopped when he heard her voice.
"Please?" she grinned at the guy manning the desk, putting on the infamous Gilmore Pout.
His mouth twisted into a sadistic smile when he realized how incredibly ironic the situation was. He had left Philadelphia two weeks after she had visited him; talked to him, kissed him, left him. He couldn't stand to live somewhere where her ghost still haunted. How sardonic it was that the place he had run had only brought him closer to what he was running from.
He heard her laugh echo through his thoughts. It twinkled like stardust, and filled the air with an indescribable feel—pink and soft and fluffy; like cotton candy.
His brown eyes darkened bitterly. No. He couldn't let her break him again. He had to be strong. Lie, he thought indignantly. He was always strong; it was seeing her face that made him weak. But, no. It was his turn. His turn to rip, to shred, to bend, to smash like she did to his heart, until it was so distorted and mangled that he couldn't even recognize his own heartbeat. No. No. No. Just like before, but his turn.
Only as he walked closer to her, her face still turned away, brown hair shiny and long like it had been when they had first met, he realized something. She was like a drug, to him; an addiction. And as much as it hurt, as much as he died when she broke him, he'd rather have her break him than be loved by anyone else. Like that poem, right? he wondered. It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. God. How incredibly sentimental. He was seriously glad that no one could hear his thoughts.
But his eyes were cold, like always, when he approached her, growing closer to the face that was constantly in his mind. He was always so good at hiding his emotions. She'd never know that he did it because he was too afraid to let go.
"'Scuse me, miss?" he said, his voice filled with professionalism. As if she was just another customer with a problem.
She turned around. His mind went, of course, directly to her eyes. God wished he could duplicate something so beautiful.
When she saw him, those same eyes filled with something that he hadn't been expecting. Not hostility, or anger; not even want or love. It was…adoration, of some sort.
"Jess!" she yelled, her high-pitched squeal causing a couple people around her to scowl. She ran up to him and hugged him, practically jumping into his arms. He smirked. He couldn't help it. Once a Gilmore, always a Gilmore.
She backed up, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. He saw that she was still the virginal teenager that she had always been, just a little more mature. His gaze followed her thin frame, mesmerized with the womanly curves that were new, the pale, delicate skin, the skinny legs, her stance still somewhat gawky from her abnormally long arms. He loved the flaws of it all; of her. She was perfect in the way that she wasn't. She was beautiful.
He stopped his inspection of her when he noticed the stiffness of her body, the wideness of her eyes. She had noticed.
"I…uh," she stammered, her lip twitching the way it always did when she was nervous. He remembered. "I, um…I was at the bookstore." she said. He waited for her to continue. "And—Halley, do you know Halley? Probably. Jess Mariano without books? Impossible. You do still read don't you?" He smiled. She had hit her stride. "Of course you read! What am I thinking? I wouldn't be here if you didn't read. I mean," she said, backtracking. "I'm not just here 'cause you read, although that's part of it, but I mean, I missed you, and—" She bit her lip, hard. "I mean, I'm not here 'cause I missed you either. But I did. Miss you. But that's not the point. The point is—"
"Rory," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter. "'Sokay. I know why you're here."
"You do?" she said, tilting her head quizzically.
"Sure," he said. "You want me."
Her lip twitched again, until she realized he was joking. "I do, huh?" she asked, smiling.
He shrugged. "It's okay. I know I'm hard to resist."
She laughed. He loved it. He wanted to make her laugh again. "Hey, Rory?" he said suddenly.
"Yeah?" she said, wiping the tears that had formed on the edges of her eyes from laughing.
"Do you wanna…" he trailed off. "Go to lunch, or something?"
She nodded. "Sure." He was almost surprised at how easily she answered. But only almost. "When?"
"Well, we could go now," he said casually. "I mean, I gotta break in a couple of minutes, so you could just wait around till then."
"'Kay," she said, sitting down.
"I'll be here," he said. Then, in his head, I always will.
"I know," she nodded. "I know you will."
