A/N: Yes, that's right, dudes and dudettes...*drumroll*...I'm back and this fic is officially off hiatus! To be absolutely honest with you, I know exactly where I'm going with it and I always have done, it's just that this chapter was really messing with my head because I could never find the right way to write it but, as you can see, it's done now so let the Lit-fest commence!
A/N Take Two: If you find time, please remember to press that purdy li'l button at the bottom of the page 'cause I'm a reviews whore and I'll take whatever praise/critism (delete as appropriate!) that you want to give me because I like to know what you lovely people think...Still not tempted? Sure? There might be a cookie in it for you...
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Long Time, No See
Rory,
You probably don't remember but I never forgot.
Please come. I can't promise alcohol on the scale of our first meeting but it will certainly be worth your while if that picture in your wallet is anything to go by .
Owen.
It's stuck to the back of an flamboyant wedding invitation, requesting me to attend the wedding of Gwen Jones and Owen Thorne. Gwennie and Owen-mine and Jess' look-a-likes. Since I wouldn't normally think that it's a good idea to invite your one-night stand to your wedding (it smacks of Logan, and Honor's bimbos, if I'm being perfectly honest), I'd decline, but something about the tone of Owen's note is making me think twice. It sounds like he and Gwennie are planning something...and that something involves a certain monosyllabic ex-diner boy. Jess.
...
So here I am. Back in Stars Hollow. Back at home. I can't see him anywhere but I can just sense that he's around somewhere. He's got to be; I've built my hopes up too much for him to bring them crashing down around me. Far too much.
I sit down on the bench in the gazebo, overlooking the town where I grew up; the town where I laughed, cried, loved.
It's then that my conscience begins its battle.
Maybe he'll be at this wedding. It's not his thing. Maybe he's tired and feels like taking a break from Truncheon. Then he won't come here. He could be helping Luke in the diner right now. Then Luke will look after him, he doesn't need to see me. He misses you, you know he does, just like you miss him. I've done enough damage already. Then who's a little bit more gonna hurt? Jess. It'll hurt him.
Despite my inner mêlée-and my better judgement-I begin to walk towards the marquee on the Dragonfly's spacious grounds. I can hear the pomp and circumstance of the Wedding March drifting across on the air and dare to hope for a second that I might be too late. No such luck, though.
I walk in and immediately, Babette, Miss Patty and East Side Tilly stopped whispering, apparently fascinated by something which, surprise, surprise, turns out to be me.
I can't think what I've done to attract the attention of the town's most incurable gossips, but as I'm wondering this, I turn to the left and everything falls into place.
…
"Don't I know you?" Part of me hates how easy it is to talk to him.
He turns to face me, his eyes half-closed, as if expecting to see something horrible. Shock is plain across his face and it makes me wonder why he's even here at all; until I remember what Gwennie told me about the picture on his fridge. Somehow, it made me feel less pathetic for showing them the picture of him in my wallet.
"I think we met a while ago." His voice smothers me, wrapping me up in its warmth and love. It seems like nothing has changed when he smiles at me; that perfect crooked smile that I've dreamt about ever since I was seventeen. I suddenly come over all giggly, like a teenager again; he always had that effect on me.
The music starts up; Gwennie and Owen's first dance as a married couple. It's the perfect setting. Jess' hand outstretches to meet mine and he leads me onto the dance floor; the prom we never had. It feels so perfect to be held by him again; like nothing in the world could ever feel this wonderful again. I could stay like this forever but there's unfinished business between us that we can't ignore for much longer.
"So…things between us didn't exactly end as they probably should have done…"
It amazes me that he manages to broach the subject first, but then, I suppose, it just goes to show how much he's changed. For the better, of course.
"Bit of an understatement, don't you think, Jess?"
"Huh. Yeah, I guess."
"Do you ever think that…nah, it's stupid." I know I shouldn't back down on this but I can't help but remember all the crap that we went through together and how it all ended so abruptly.
"Oh come on, Rory, you're a Yale graduate, for god's sake…Nothing you say can possibly be stupid!" I wonder how much else he knows about my life since…us.
"Ok…Do you ever think that maybe, given the right timing, we could've worked out?" I don't know if I want his answer, but I know that I need it more than anything.
"Every day."
And suddenly, and without my meticulous pro/con lists, I'm kissing him and it's like nothing I've ever experienced before…well, when I say that, what I really mean is that it reminds me of petrol, and unlit cigarettes…but the nagging thought of Dean Forrester never even enters my mind. If I could think anything, that is. All I know is the feel of his lips desperately seeking mine, and the knowledge that this is only the start of a brand new beginning.
I should really remember to thank the Happy Couple…
