A/N: Thanks to everyone who read. Additional thank you's to those who read AND reviewed.

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls ain't mine and none of the characters are either.

- - - -

JUST LIKE ROCKY

Sinking down on the couch I dial the numbers quickly. It's best to do it quickly. Quick and painless, right?

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Rory?" Her voice sounds relieved.

"Yeah, it's me."

I pause.

When none of us say anything I continue. "You've been calling?"

"Yeah, I was wondering where you were. You just stormed out of here, so I was worried, you know?"

"Nothing to worry about."

For the first time since the Yale fiasco, conversation between us doesn't some easy. The fight we had clearly isn't forgotten by either her or me.

"I'm in Philadelphia." I blurt out when the silence is no longer tolerable.

She chuckles silently and without humour. "Yeah, I figured."

"I know you did, Luke just called here."

She remains silent and it annoys me to no end.

I know why she's so silent. She's expecting an apology. But I am not in the wrong here and I'll be damned if I apologize to her. And she should know better than that by now. I am not prepared to apologize for wanting to be with Jess. I am not seventeen anymore.

"I'm fine, by the way." I spit sarcastically.

"What?" She sounds surprised at my sudden outburst.

"Oh, nothing I just figured you might wanna know how your daughter's doing after storming away last night." I may not sound like the seventeen year old Rory at the moment, but I am starting to sound increasingly like the seventeen year old Jess.

She sighs explosively. "That's just unfair, Rory and you know that's not what this is about."

"What is this about then?"

"This is about you and Jess." Her voice rises just a bit. "I can't help the way I feel about this. I think you're making a mistake."

My blood reaches its boiling point as she finishes her sentence. Reflecting this, my voice comes out in a venomous hiss.

"I'm happy, mom. For the first time in a long time, I'm happy. And guess what? I am not about to let you ruin that for me."

I hang up the phone, momentarily wishing I was speaking from one of those office type phones just so I could slam it down.

Staring into the air at nothing in particular, I try to compose myself.

Taking a deep breath I feel my heartbeat return to normal, so I stand up and make my way through the living room and into the kitchen. I sit back down at the kitchen table and continue eating. Jess is staring at me with a look crossed between curiosity and amusement.

A few moments pass by, me never taking my eyes off my food, Jess never taking his eyes off me. Trying to get my attention Jess places a finger under my chin, tilting my head up and this way he's effectively forcing me to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just…She gets me really angry sometimes."

"Sorry."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it." I dismiss his apology. He shouldn't feel bad. This fight is me and her.

He nods. "So, what do you wanna do today?" He asks, changing the subject.

"Well, we've already spent a good bulk of the day inside," he smirks at my implication. "So I'd like to get out of here."

"And go where?"

"You have to show me Philadelphia. I wanna see the Liberty Bell and we have to run up the stairs to the museum like Rocky!"

His face scrunches up in a weird expression trying to communicate his absolute disdain for my requests.

"And then," I continue ignoring him. "I want to see the best coffee place and of course the best bookstore. And then as the grand finale," I gesture excitedly. "You have to take me to a bookstore that carries your book. I have seen it in a store in Hartford, but I wanna see it in a store here in Philadelphia where it all started."

He smiles at me. He may not be the type to say it out loud, certainly he will be the first to criticize it, but he's proud of his book. I know he is. And he should be.

"Please?" I pout at him.

"All right, I'll show you around. But I am not," he emphasizes, "running up the stairs like Rocky."

"You're no fun." I accuse playfully.

- - - -

"I had fun today." I tell him and kiss his cheek.

"Mhm." He hums against my forehead as he places a quick kiss there.

I shift a little closer to him on the park bench we are currently occupying. He responds by wrapping his arm around my waist tucking me in properly against his side. We have spent the whole day walking around the city and I am exhausted. After some discussion with Jess I agreed to skip the Liberty Bell, deciding it wasn't worth all the complaining. But I didn't relent on seeing the steps up to the museum. And I may not have gotten him to run up the stairs, but at least I got him to walk.

I relax against Jess for a moment before I remember:

"Oh my God!" I sit up quickly.

"What?" He's surprised at the sudden disconnection.

"We haven't looked for your book yet!"

"Guess not."

"Well, come on, then!" I get up and pull him up with me.

- - - -

"It's so you." I say as my fingers skim the simple black cover.

"Well, it is mine." He says a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yes it is." I smile at him. "When did you start writing?" I ask him suddenly very curious. I can't remember him ever saying anything about it before, not that he would have.

"I've always been writing, I guess." He says shrugging his shoulders.

"No, but I mean seriously writing. Like 'this will be my career' kind of writing."

He thinks for a second before responding. "When I was in California."

"You lived in California?"

He nods.

"When?" I ask.

"Right after Stars Hollow."

"Oh." I say.

Then it sinks in.

"Oh…So that's where you went after…"

"Yeah." He confirms without elaborating. To be honest I don't know if I want him to elaborate. Not yet anyways.

He brought it up, not me. Personally I would have liked to save this conversation for another day.

"Could we talk about this some other time?" He asks.

Apparently he's of the same opinion.

"Yeah, I think that would be good. No need to go down that road at the moment."

"Yeah, me either."

I return his smirk with a smile.

After having put his book back on the shelf I turn to him.

"But sometime, though…" I trail off, leaving it for him to finish.

And he does.

"We will." There's a pause. "Sometime."

- - - -

A/N: Couldn't resist the Rocky reference.

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