21. The Possibilities of Christmas
'Verse: The Kids 'Verse
Timeline: If The Kids Are United, during Chapter 16 (AU Season 3)
Date: December 2003

"So, is Paris okay?" asked Rory, idly making a snowball between her gloved hands.

"Having a great time with the boyfriend's family, from what I heard," Jess assured her, watching with some amusement as Luke and Lorelai continued their snowball fight, hardly noticing that he and Rory had retreated to the porch steps for a break from the crazy.

"Well, that's good," Rory said of Paris and Jamie, giving up on her snowball and letting it crumble to the ground. She looked up at the so-called grown-ups running around like kids then and giggled at the sight. "Sometimes I think it'd be cool if Mom and Luke met when they were our age," she considered aloud, "but then I think, I might not be here then. You ever think about how life would be if you really were Paris' brother?" she asked Jess. "I mean, we would've met a little sooner."

Jess shrugged. "If Liz had stuck around here when I was a kid, we might've grown up together."

"That would've been cool." Rory grinned. "I'll bet you were a really cute kid," she said, shoving his shoulder with her own.

"You think it would've been cool?" asked Jess, eyes widening some, even as he completely ignored her potential compliment or possible teasing. "Even if your mom married my uncle when we were still kids and we got raised as cousins?"

It was almost too funny to watch the big grin dissolve off Rory's face and turn into something truly disgusted by his words.

"Why'd you have to go and make it... icky?" she asked, shaking off the feeling that came over her then.

"I didn't make it icky," he told her definitely, reaching for a handful of snow, "it just would be icky" he assured her, balling up the snow in-between his hands.

"Well, thankfully, it's not icky," said Rory, leaning into him some more. "It's just good."

"Agreed," he said, smiling as she kissed his lips.

The snow fell from his hands as they got a little lost in make-out mode. It probably should've occurred to them they were outside and not at all alone, but the heat between them easily made them forget about the cold, and everything else besides. At least until the smash of snow against their heads made them spring apart.

"Come on, lazy kids!" Lorelai yelled at them.

"That is not what we came out here for," Luke reminded them, tossing another snowball that narrowly missed Jess' head.

"Geez!" he complained, though he was smiling all the same.

"Okay," said Rory getting to her feet and offering Jess a hand up to. "I think this means war," she said definitely.

"You got that right," Jess agreed, as they both went on the attack, laughing all the way.