They walked and talked through the streets of Philadelphia. The sun was just setting as the evening breeze picked up. Their conversation flowed freely, Rory's work, Jess's work, his writing, her mom and Luke.

"So where are we going?" she asked.

"Just a bar, over the water towards the University. It's nothing special but it does great burgers."

"Sounds great." They walked on for a while in silence, Rory taking in this new city. He stole sideways glances at her when he knew she wasn't looking. She looked amazing. Dressed casually, her hair fell over her face sexily and he had an urge to sweep his fingers over her bangs, to brush them behind her ear.

They reached the bar and Jess held the door open for her. He led her towards a booth in the corner. It was busy, people drinking and chatting after a day at work, and a live band played in the corner. This was just his kind of place, good food and live music, his passion. They sat in the corner at right angles, the bench curved so their legs touched occasionally under the table. The waitress came to their table after a few minutes and took their orders, beers and burgers. She was pretty, very pretty, long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and she eyes Jess lustfully through thick eyelashes. Jess barely looked up from his menu. When she left, Rory leaned in and asked,

"You really have no idea what you do to women do you?"

He looked bemused.

She chuckled. "That waitress was totally giving you the eyes, she barely looked at me."

"Well, what can I say? When you've got it!" he gestured towards his body and they both laughed. The waitress returned with their beers and Jess looked directly at her, thanking her with a dazzling smile. The waitress blushed and flashed a smug look at Rory. As she left, Rory laughed,

"Ouch! If looks could kill!"

He laughed again. "She's just jealous." When she looked confused, he continued. "Well, I'm sat here with the most beautiful woman in the bar."

She swore her heart stopped. They held each others gaze for a long time, too long. Eventually, she tore her eyes away, blushing furiously and looking down at her hands. He picked up his bottle and held it out to her,

"Cheers." They clinked and both took big gulps of their beers. Rory felt she needed it now. They'd gone from zero to flirting in 60 seconds. She was nervous, very nervous and by the way his fingers were tapping on his bottle, she guessed he was too. His heart was pounding, why had he said that? Some things need to stay in your head Mariano! He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and his left leg brushed against her right. He heard her sharp intake of breath, but she didn't move away. Eventually, they began chatting again, keeping their topics very PG-13. Their food arrived and they tucked in.

She quizzed him on the book, unpicked his characters, praised her favourite parts, gently criticised what she didn't think worked and asked about his inspirations for it. She loved watching him talk about something he was so passionate about and he loved arguing about literature with her, deflecting her criticisms and justifying his choices.

20 minutes later, the waitress returned to clear their plates. Jess didn't look at her this time and she retreated grumpily.

"So," he started. "Luke told me about that guy. Logan, was it?" she nodded. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

She laughed, "Ha! No you're not!"

He smiled, "No, you're right, I'm not, the guy was a jackass. But I'm sorry you're not happy."

"Who says I'm not happy? It wasn't right, at the time, but that was a long time ago now, I'm fine." She seemed genuine in that last statement, maybe she was over him, he thought.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

She took a swig of her beer, almost finishing it. She paused. "He…he asked me to marry him."

Jess almost choked on his beer. "What?!"

She chucked, "Yeeeeeah, I know."

"Wow," he raised his eyebrows.

"I loved him, I did. But. I don't know. It just wasn't right. I couldn't follow him and be a trophy wife, there's still so many things I want to do." A long silence fell between them. "It should be easy, shouldn't it? When you love someone? To make that decision? But I'd never even thought of marrying him, it was totally out of the blue. I dunno, I just think, when someone's the one, it should be the easiest decision ever."

He'd never heard her talk about love like this. She looked at him with a look that he couldn't put his finger on and stared for a long time, an unsaid emotion passing through them. Finally, Jess blinked and held up his empty bottle.

"You want another one?"

"Please," she nodded. He left the table and she could finally breathe. When he returned, she'd plucked up the courage to ask and blurted out,

"So what about you? Anyone in the picture?"

"Me? No. Not for a while now," he looked down at his fingers, picking at the label on his bottle. She could tell he wouldn't say any more. They stayed at the bar for another hour, drinking and telling stories of the past few years of their lives. She'd missed his company and was surprised at how easy it was to fall back into conversation with him. Eventually, they began reminiscing about the times they'd spent together as teenagers.

"Remember Shane? I hated her," she laughed.

He returned the laugh, "Of course you did, I only went out with her to make you jealous! Evidently it worked," he grinned and took another swig of his beer.

She gasped and playfully hit him on the arm. "You ass! That's awful!"

"Well it worked pretty well didn't it. I got you in the end."

She smiled, a genuinely heartfelt smile. "Yeah, you did," she replied softly. They held each other's gaze for a few moments.

"It was good, wasn't it? What we had? I know I didn't treat you right, but…"

She interrupted him, putting her hand on his forearm. "It was good." They smiled at each other, eyes locking once again.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. She raised her eyebrows, what was he apologising for? "I'm so sorry Rory. I was just a kid, I didn't realise what I had right in front of me, until it was gone." He looked down.

She took her hand away. "It was a long time ago Jess, it doesn't matter anymore."

"It does. It does matter. You deserved better. How we ended, at that stupid party, I was such an idiot."

"Don't Jess. It was such a long time ago, we're different people now. It's in the past. Besides, that night, I wanted to. I wanted to be with you, just not there, like that."

His eyes snapped to hers.

She took a deep breath. "I would have slept with you….soon. I wanted to. It just wasn't meant to be I guess."

They both finished their beers. "You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," she took out her purse.

He held up his hand, "Don't be silly, I got this."

She smiled, "You don't have to do that." He raised his eyebrows. "Thank you," she said. He went to the bar to pay and she shrugged on her coat. She watched the waitress hurry over to him and try to make conversation. She smiled inwardly and got up to join him, making the waitress scowl again. He grinned sideways at her, knowing she did that on purpose, and they strode out the door into the cold Philadelphia evening.