Sorry it's been a few days! I've been really busy and haven't had time to write. Here's the next chapter! :)
Chapter 4
"I could still take us somewhere else if you want?" Jess said as he sat across the table from Rory in the diner. "But I thought since I was already here and you love Luke's food..."
"This is fine." Rory smiled. "Nice. Familiar."
"Ok, good." Jess said as they both started tucking into their burgers. Jess glanced up at her. "So you wanted this dinner to catch up?" He said cautiously.
"Yeah..well...since we haven't seen each other for four years, I thought it might be nice." Rory said hesitantly. She glanced at him. "I read your second book. It was so good." She smiled.
Jess ducked his head humbly. "Thanks." He said gruffly. "It wasn't much."
"It was, Jess." Rory said earnestly. "How much you've achieved over the last ten years, it's amazing."
Jess shrugged. "I love doing what I do so it doesn't make it hard." He said.
"And I loved the dedication to Luke at the beginning. He must have been so touched." Rory said softly.
"Yeah well...I owe him a lot. I probably wouldn't have got to where I am today if it wasn't for him." Jess said.
Rory smiled at him. "I'm so glad you've done so well. You deserve it. I always knew you could."
"You deserve it too." Jess said. "You've already done amazing things and you will do more. I know you will."
"Thanks." Rory said ducking her head. "I guess I don't just have myself to think about now." She said quietly, placing one hand on her stomach.
"I guess not." Jess said.
They both started eating again for a moment in silence.
"So..." They both suddenly said in unison, laughing nervously afterwards.
"God why is this so weird? This shouldn't be weird right?" Rory said.
Jess smirked. "Well we are exes so it was likely to be a little weird."
Rory smirked at that. "I know but...that was years ago. We're basically family now!"
Jess chuckled. "True." He nodded. "Although we're not really, are we? Blood related I mean. Or else us dating before would just be weird now."
Rory laughed. "No I guess not."
"Good." Jess smirked.
Rory glanced up at him and held his gaze for a moment before ducking her head down again and taking another mouthful of food to try and hide the faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
There was another moment's silence before they both spoke in unison again.
"Rory..."
"Jess..."
"Ok we so need to stop doing that!" Rory laughed.
Jess chuckled. "Yeah we do."
"You go first." Rory said.
Jess was quiet for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I want you to know that I did...love you...you know...back then, when we were..." He said gruffly.
"I know." Rory said quietly looking up at him.
"I know I never said it to you but I did love you." Jess said. "I nearly told you during that phone call on your graduation day..." He admitted.
"I knew that was you!" Rory exclaimed. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I should have. I'm sorry." Jess said ashamed. "But I thought you probably hated me for bailing and stuff and I didn't want to mess you around anymore. You didn't deserve it."
"Why didn't you talk to me back then?" Rory asked quietly, genuinely interested. "I'm not mad, I'm just...confused. If you had jut told me you were struggling and that you weren't going to graduate, I would have supported you. Helped you. But instead you just left...without saying goodbye."
Jess sighed. "I was a messed up kid. I was embarrassed and I thought I'd screwed everything up. Luke was so disappointed in me and told me I had to go. I saw his face and just knew it would be ten times worse having to go through it with you so I just...left. I was a coward, I know." He admitted. He glanced up at Rory. "But I did love you. You're one of the best things that ever happened to me."
"Well you are for me as well." Rory said giving him a small smile.
"What?" Jess asked confused.
"Come on, Jess! Who's always been there to put me back on the right path? To stop me being stupid and bring me back to reality? You really challenged me, you challenged my opinions and really got me thinking. You were the reason I went back to Yale and now you're the reason I'm writing this book." She said. "I...well I think I've just realised I need you in my life. I always have. I know we've had bumps in the road but I never stopped caring about you." She said quietly, glancing up at him.
"Well I guess we'll always be connected now through Luke and your mom. Maybe that means we'll see each other more." Jess said.
"Yeah.." Rory said quietly holding his gaze for a moment before looking away quickly again.
Jess swallowed a mouthful of food slowly. He looked up at her. "Is it just me or is there something here? Between us?" He asked hesitantly. "I know I'm probably being stupid and imagining it, especially because I know you and Logan, well you know..." He said embarrassed. "But seeing you again and us talking like old times. Is it just me?" He asked.
Rory smiled slightly. "No. I don't think so." She admitted.
"No?" Jess said surprised but also hopefully.
Rory sighed. "I just...I'm feeling all emotions at the moment. When I was with Logan, it was..well...it was like we were us again, at Yale. It seemed right and I was happy. But then I would remember he was engaged and then I would realise it wasn't like before and I would question why we were doing it." She admitted. "But it was Logan and he was...well...familiar. I was going through stuff, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with work and stuff so I guess it just felt nice to have someone familiar." She then sighed. "But it's just got complicated now and I realise how stupid I was. Logan was never going to leave Odette. I'm sorry, I know you probably don't really want to hear this." She said glancing up at him.
"It's fine." Jess said.
"You're right though. Us sitting here, talking the past couple of days, it has felt like old times. But it's not how I felt when I've been with Logan and I guess it's made me realise how much of a fantasy I was living the past year." She admitted. She looked up at him again. "With you, it feels right. I can talk to you. I've always been able to talk to you." Rory said. "But I'm going through a lot at the moment. I don't want to drag you into my mess of a life. I'm not saying my kid is part of the mess because I love it already but if we were to happen again, I don't want you to feel forced into whatever my life will be like."
"I don't feel forced into anything. I know it's a weird situation." Jess said. "But...I really care about you Rory. I don't think I ever really stopped. I tried to move on. I dated a couple of girls but they never stuck because in the back of my mind, I knew I still loved you."
Rory gave him a small smile. "I guess we never had our closure, did we?"
Jess chuckled. "Not at all."
"Are you really sure you want to get involved in whatever life will throw at me? I'm going to get fat and will probably throw up loads. I'm going to be craving food and be all hormonal." She said with a slight smirk.
Jess smirked. "I think I can handle it."
Rory smiled. She reached over and took hold of her hand. "Good. Because I think I really need you."
"You've got me." He said. He noticed she'd finished her food. "Walk you home?" He offered.
"That'd be nice." Rory smiled.
They got up and left the diner, Jess locking up after them and then they walked across the square together, holding hands. They arrived back at the Crap Shack relatively quickly and Jess walked Rory up onto the porch, stopping just infront of the door.
Rory turned to him. "Thanks for the food." She smiled.
"No problem." Jess said.
"So..uh..call you tomorrow?" Rory said hesitantly, not really knowing how to say goodbye.
"Sure." Jess nodded.
They stood facing each other for a moment before Jess slowly leaned in, giving Rory a kiss which she reciprocated. They pulled away slowly and both laughed nervously.
"Well I can definitely say you're still a good kisser." Rory joked.
Jess smirked. "You're not so bad yourself."
Rory smirked and leant in to give him a hug. "Night Jess." She said softly.
"Night." Jess smiled. "Take care yeah?"
"I will. I'll call you tomorrow." Rory smiled.
Jess nodded and watched her unlock the front door and then disappear from sight. He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. He stood there for a minute before slowly turning round and walking off.
On the other side of the door, Rory also had a giddy smile on her face. She couldn't help it. She tried to compose herself before walking into the living room where her mom and Luke were.
I know it was quite Rory/Jess heavy but I wanted to set them up. There will be more characters in the next chapter! :) Hope you liked it! Please keep your reviews coming, thanks! :)
