(Spoilers for A Year in the Life.) With this short story, I'm attempting to fix a startling omission in the revival. Is it AU or simply some unaired scenes within canon? You be the judge. Fair warning, this doesn't solve the problems of the revival's cliffhanger, only compounds them. If you're gonna end in a cliffhanger, you might as well go all out!

It became a new normal that they would run into each other once or twice a year, drawn together at Luke and Lorelai's for family holidays and events. What does this new normal look like for Jess and Rory? Banter, late night conversations, old friends becoming new friends, hints of tension and accidental touches. Literati slow burn, scattered moments after S7.

A realistic glimpse of how assistant NYTimes editor Rory finds ways back to Stars Hollow and back to casual encounters with a former boyfriend through his annotated pages of Hemingway, Kerouac, Woolf, and Vonnegut. Written before the reboot, 4 seasons, 4 very long chapters, with healthy doses of coffee, whiskey, literature, and hidden half-smiles. Literati, Alt AYITL.