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7

-the moment you decided to let love in-

It was the night before her graduation, but Rory was still hard a t work, putting the finishing touches on her valedictorian speech. She was incredibly humble about the accomplishment, but inside she was soaring. Her week of studying, worrying and Paris should have left her exhausted but she found herself strangely exhilarated. Making her way to the kitchen for a soda, she saw her mom had fallen asleep on the couch watching Charlie Rose. She draped a blanket over her mother, turned the TV off, and made her way back to her room to review her speech again.

Outside, a likewise inexplicably exhilarated Jess had snuck out of the apartment after Luke fell asleep and made his way to the Gilmore house. Seeing Rory moving in her bedroom he crept onto the porch and lightly tapped on her window pane. She looked up from her computer screen, startled, and smiled when she saw him. She pushed back the curtains and opened the window to greet him.

"Hey," she said breathily. He smiled a t her.

"Hey. Take a walk with me?" She glanced back at her closed bedroom door. Hearing no motion from the living room, she hoisted the window higher and sat on the sill to swing her leg out.

"Move," she commanded.

"Hi- the door," he said, amused by her behavior.

"My mom's asleep on the couch- I don't want to wake her." She ducked her head down and rather ungracefully executed her escape. His arms caught her around the waist as she fell into him, attempting to get her other leg out. In the midst of the moment, she burst into giggles.

"Well, if that didn't wake her," he said.

"Shut it," she whispered, and taking his hand she led him toward the street.

"I'm surprised you're still awake. I thought you would have crashed after this past week," he said as they walked through the still streets.

"I'm surprised too. It'll all catch up with me soon, I imagine."

"What were you working on?" He asked. "When I interrupted you."

"Oh, nothing. Just a speech."

"For…?" He inquired.

"Uh, my valedictorian speech," she said quickly.

"Wow. Valedictorian," he said with an edge of pride in his voice. "I really don't deserve you." She looked up at him, and seeing his smirk, slipped her arms around him in a hug as they walked. They continued in silence, making their way across the lawn of the high school. "So, on a counter note of my completely opposite life, I went to see Principal Mertin the other day."

"And did he shoe you why principal ends with 'P-A-L'?" She teased.

"In a twisted and pathetic sort of way, I guess. I'm starting summer school next week to prepare for the fall term."

"That's great Jess," Rory said. They were crossing the bridge over the lake and they stopped to sit down.

"This coming from Miss Valedictorian."

She blushed. "I'm serious Jess. This is a good thing. I'm proud of you." He couldn't help but fell worthless even though he knew she was being genuine.

"What makes you so sure that I'm smart, because all evidence indicates otherwise."

"C'mon Jess, you've read books of every genre on every probable theme and you can talk about them in ways unlike anything I've ever heard. You have a perspective that's so original and thought provoking." He watched her in the darkness, the first and possibly still the only one who believed he was worth anything.

"You know," he said, taking her hand in his own. "Mr. Mertin told me to think about what I'm going to do with my diploma, and I've been thinking about what you said last week in the gazebo about what I want to so and how I can do it better…I think I want to be a writer." Rory's eyes shined through the darkness and she beamed at him.

"Jess, that's perfect," she said, squeezing his hands.

"I've been rolling around a few plots for a while, and I think finally going to put them to paper," he shrugged carelessly. "It might prove to be an awful idea, but, hey, I should at least try, right?"

Wordlessly, she leaned toward him and, cupping his jaw line with her hand, she brushed her lips against his in a soft, sweet kiss. He breathed her in for a moment before slightly pulling back to touch his forehead to hers. She turned her body to lean against him more and rest her head against his chest. Jess slipped his arm behind her, unconsciously pulling strands of her hair through his fingers.

"Rory?" He kissed her hair in thought.

"Hmm? She said sleepily. He looked down at her, her eyes closed and face content. He felt the weight of her body leaning on him and his heart pounding in her ear. His pause made her suddenly open her eyes and tilted her head to look up at him.

"I love you." The words escaped him and he felt a strain disappear from his muscles. A feeling he had for so long struggled to put into words suddenly felt like the most uncomplicated thing in his life. He watched her expressionless face and suddenly dreaded her reactionary statement.

Rory's soft reply resounded in Jess's head. "I know: I love you too," she smiled beautifully at him and tilted her head back more to kiss him under his chin.

"It scares me," he said suddenly in a hoarse voice, startled by his confessional mood.

"What?" Rory asked. "Love?"

"Yea," he rested his chin against her head and looked out over the lake. "I'm afraid of love- of loving- you," he furrowed his brow.

"Me too," she whispered. He looked down at her pale face. "I'm afraid of failing at love." Somewhere a bullfrog croaked and the wind gently rustled the leaves of the treetops.

"So, what do we do?" Jess asked finally.

"Well, I guess it's too late to let fear stop us." Jess felt his pain subside and a new rush course through his veins as her eyes met him and leaned his head down to meet her.