A/N: I don't own Gilmore Girls.
"Lane, I need some advice."
"Go for it."
"It's about Jess."
"Yeah, I could have guessed that.'
"I saw him yesterday."
"And it was bad? You sound upset."
"I don't know. We were talking Wednesday night and a few minutes after we hung up, he called back asking to see me. We met yesterday, and it was fine for a while. Well, he showed up late, but that's Jess for you." At least, that was what she had told herself with each passing minute. "He got distant at the end, and when he had to leave…" She trailed off.
"What?"
"It wasn't what I expected."
"Did he kiss you?"
"No."
"Did you want him to?"
Rory was silent.
"Oh."
"No, that's not what I meant. Not really. I don't even know anymore. He just walked me to my car and as soon as I was in, he practically sprinted for his car, like he couldn't wait to get away from me. I just stared after him in my rear view mirror like an idiot. He didn't come back, didn't even look back, and I have no idea what he was thinking. He hasn't called and I don't know if he ever will again. I hate it! I hate that I care! Why do I let him do this to me? I shouldn't have a stupid grin on my face every time he calls me. I shouldn't have thought about what I was going to wear for half an hour today. I shouldn't have expected him to show up on time. And, of all things, I shouldn't have expected him to kiss me! I didn't mean for it to happen like this."
"Hold on. You didn't mean for it to 'happen like this'?"
"I called him because I wanted closure. I wanted him out of my life for good. I guess I thought that if we could just talk things out then, somehow, I'd get him out of my mind for good. But when we talked, it was just like it used to be. It was nice. I thought - I don't know. I just don't know what to do anymore."
Lane was silent for a moment. "Call him. Ask him what's up."
"I can't do that. If something's wrong, he'll never talk to me."
"Then he hasn't changed that much."
"But -"
"Rory, do you love him?"
"I-I don't know. I don't want to."
"I know I was never this guy's biggest fan, but you've spent years on him. Look, if he has changed, it might be worth it. And sometimes you have to take the initiative. Guys don't always catch on right away. I practically had to slap Zach to get him to notice me as more than a band member."
"I still think it's funny how you told him off in the diner."
"Don't remind me. I'm not proud of that moment."
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"
Rory could hear crying in the background. "And the result of that embarrassing incident just started screaming. I'm going to have to let you go. But keep me posted on what happens."
"Thanks, Lane."
Rory sighed. Might as well get it over with. She dialed Jess' number and held the phone to her ear. "You've reached Jess Mariano. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." "….He really won't!…"
She sighed as she heard his answering machine. Her mind went back to when she had asked him about it.
"Oh, that was Chris." He had said. "I made the mistake of recording it while he was in the room. I could have recorded it again, but he paid me twenty bucks to keep it.
"The things guys will do for money never cease to amaze me."
"Yeah, well…I used it to buy a few books."
"That's a worthy cause. I take back my statement."
"Even if I said one was by Hemingway?"
"In that case, no."
"It wasn't."
"What?" She had frowned.
"I didn't buy a Hemingway. Just wanted to see your reaction."
"Very funny."
"And besides, I already have most of his works."
"You're hopeless."
"Nope. I just have a good taste in literature."
"It's better than most, I'll give you that. But the Hemingway? Not so great."
"If you'd just read A Farewell To Arms again…"
"Been there, done that, and not going back."
He had sighed. "I give up."
She shook herself out of her reverie, packed up her laptop, and set out for a coffee shop to finish her latest article.
"Hey, Jess. It's Rory. I just wanted to say hi, and…Argh!" She flopped onto the hotel couch with a huff.
"I should not have to practice what I'm going to say." She muttered. "It's not a big deal, right? Right. I'm just going to say hi. Not that I care anyway. Just because I'm talking to myself and I've been practicing for two days doesn't mean I care."
Her mouth was dry. She took a sip of the water that was beside her, the one she had been sipping for the past ten minutes, stalling.
She picked up the phone and listened to the answering machine.
"Hey, Jess. It's Rory. Just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing. Give me a call back. You wouldn't want to miss the latest story about Miss Patty, would you?" She paused. "Um…that's about it. Bye."
A week. Exactly a week had passed without a word, and each day her hope diminished. He didn't want to talk to her - much less be with her. And as usual, he hadn't given the slightest indication of what went wrong. She had thought him wanting to meet her was a step forward in their relationship, not a step back. Hadn't he been the one who was chasing her for years? And all of a sudden, he changed his mind. Typical.
"You've reached Jess Mariano…"
Her throat constricted at the sound of his voice. She snapped her phone shut. Why had she gotten dragged into this? She should have known better. It had hurt enough the first time. She sank onto her bed and let the first tear slip down her cheek.
A/N: I know this is more of a filler chapter, but I almost have the next few chapters written, so I should be able to update more frequently depending on my school/work load. I've had kind of a bad week, and if you guys could review on this chapter or the story in general, it'd make me really happy. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this!