Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for all of your reviews. For some
reason, ff.net wasn't showing me the reviews for chapters 7 and 8 and then
tonight they all showed up and I had like 15 reviews! I just wanted to ask
you all if you want me to write a sequel to this story? I have ideas for
two sequels (a trilogy I guess). Please review and tell me if you want me
to write a sequel to this story. Thanks.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory woke up out of a nightmare. She had had a dream that she was a contestant on Survivor, and she, Jess, and Phoenix were the last three contestants. She had formed an alliance with Jess. But then he and Phoenix voted her off the island! The night before she had had a dream with similar meaning that involved Toni Morrison, a can of whipped cream, and Phoenix as a magician who juggled chainsaws. Rory had to talk to someone about the whole Jess saga or the nightmares would never end.
She thought about waiting until her mom got up and discussing the situation with her. That's what she would do under normal circumstances, but it just wasn't an option this time. Since Lorelai and Luke were still fighting, the mention of anything remotely connected to Luke, such as Jess, was strictly forbidden. Besides, Lorelai wasn't exactly Jess' biggest fan to begin with. So, Rory decided to call Lane. She got up, stumbled out of bed, and dialed Lane's number.
"Hey, it's Rory."
"Hey! How was your trip?"
"It was okay. Can we talk?" Just as she said this, she heard Mrs. Kim's muffled voice yelling something in the background.
"My mom doesn't want me on the phone. But we can meet somewhere and talk in person. How about we meet in the gazebo in fifteen minutes?"
"Okay, I'll see you then." Rory wasn't too happy about the prospect of dressing at that very moment, but it was worth it to be able to talk to Lane and get this weight off her chest.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory arrived at the gazebo fifteen minutes later to find Lane already sitting there.
"So what's up?" Lane asked as Rory sat down. Rory tried to figure out where she should start. What events had she recounted to Lane? And then she realized she hadn't told her anything. She'd have to start at the beginning with the kiss. She took a deep breath, and began.
"Well, you know that Jess got sent back to New York because of the whole car accident thing, right? Well, he moved back."
"Yeah, I've seen him around. How did he manage that?"
"He just wanted to move back and Luke gave in, I guess. So anyway, he showed up at Sookie and Jackson's wedding--"
"He did? What happened?" Lane interrupted.
"Okay, if you're going to interrupt me every time you hear a shocking revelation, we're going to be here all morning."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, he showed up at Sookie and Jackson's wedding. And I don't know what happened, but. . . I kissed him," she waited for Lane to interrupt again, but Lane's just remained shocked in silence.
"Well," Rory rambled on at top speed. "It turns out that Dean saw the whole thing and so he broke up with me. I was obviously upset about it, so I sort of took it out on Jess the next morning and told him the kiss didn't mean anything. But then I realized when I was in Washington that it did mean something and that I think I'm in love with him. So I came home all ready to tell him how I feel, and it turns out that he has a girlfriend. This slutty girl named Phoenix. Did you get all that?"
"I sort of wish I had been taking notes, but yeah, I think I got it."
"So what should I do?"
"Well, if you don't tell him how you feel, it will probably be eating away at you. You need to get it off your chest. Besides, you have to take the chance, right?"
"Okay. I'll tell him," Rory said firmly.
"But then again, he might reject you. And then you'd feel even worse than if you had just kept it to yourself."
"So, which is it? Tell him or not?"
"I don't know. This is a tough one."
Rory pulled on her hair in frustration. "Argh! I wish that I could just say that I never had feelings for Jess and never could. It would make things so much easier."
She paused for a second to regain composure. "But I think I'm going to tell him. It can't be any worse than it already is."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jess sat down on the park bench behind the gazebo to finish Seymour, an Introduction in peace. But he soon found that he had traded in the sound of hammers and drills in the diner for the sound of a leaf blower. He could just barely hear two people talking inside the gazebo, and wondered how they could carry on a conversation through all the noise.
Jess read one paragraph five times without understanding a word before deciding that he would never get any reading done here. But just as he got up to go back into the diner, the leaf blower stopped and he found that he could fully hear the conversation coming from the gazebo. It was Rory's voice.
". . .I never had feelings for Jess and never could," is all he heard before the leaf blower began again.
Jess felt his heart begin to fall. He had always feared that Rory didn't really have feelings for him; that she still loved Dean. It was exactly what Lorelai had said. But hearing it come straight from her was more than he could bear. Jess felt tears well up in his eyes, but he pushed them away. He hadn't cried in five years, and he wasn't going to do it now. He took a deep breath and walked away from the gazebo with determination. Phoenix wasn't the answer, but Jess would have to find someway of getting over Rory. For good.
Next time: Rory and Jess have another confrontation that leads to one of them exposing how they truly feel. But they won't be riding off into the sunset just yet.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory woke up out of a nightmare. She had had a dream that she was a contestant on Survivor, and she, Jess, and Phoenix were the last three contestants. She had formed an alliance with Jess. But then he and Phoenix voted her off the island! The night before she had had a dream with similar meaning that involved Toni Morrison, a can of whipped cream, and Phoenix as a magician who juggled chainsaws. Rory had to talk to someone about the whole Jess saga or the nightmares would never end.
She thought about waiting until her mom got up and discussing the situation with her. That's what she would do under normal circumstances, but it just wasn't an option this time. Since Lorelai and Luke were still fighting, the mention of anything remotely connected to Luke, such as Jess, was strictly forbidden. Besides, Lorelai wasn't exactly Jess' biggest fan to begin with. So, Rory decided to call Lane. She got up, stumbled out of bed, and dialed Lane's number.
"Hey, it's Rory."
"Hey! How was your trip?"
"It was okay. Can we talk?" Just as she said this, she heard Mrs. Kim's muffled voice yelling something in the background.
"My mom doesn't want me on the phone. But we can meet somewhere and talk in person. How about we meet in the gazebo in fifteen minutes?"
"Okay, I'll see you then." Rory wasn't too happy about the prospect of dressing at that very moment, but it was worth it to be able to talk to Lane and get this weight off her chest.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory arrived at the gazebo fifteen minutes later to find Lane already sitting there.
"So what's up?" Lane asked as Rory sat down. Rory tried to figure out where she should start. What events had she recounted to Lane? And then she realized she hadn't told her anything. She'd have to start at the beginning with the kiss. She took a deep breath, and began.
"Well, you know that Jess got sent back to New York because of the whole car accident thing, right? Well, he moved back."
"Yeah, I've seen him around. How did he manage that?"
"He just wanted to move back and Luke gave in, I guess. So anyway, he showed up at Sookie and Jackson's wedding--"
"He did? What happened?" Lane interrupted.
"Okay, if you're going to interrupt me every time you hear a shocking revelation, we're going to be here all morning."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, he showed up at Sookie and Jackson's wedding. And I don't know what happened, but. . . I kissed him," she waited for Lane to interrupt again, but Lane's just remained shocked in silence.
"Well," Rory rambled on at top speed. "It turns out that Dean saw the whole thing and so he broke up with me. I was obviously upset about it, so I sort of took it out on Jess the next morning and told him the kiss didn't mean anything. But then I realized when I was in Washington that it did mean something and that I think I'm in love with him. So I came home all ready to tell him how I feel, and it turns out that he has a girlfriend. This slutty girl named Phoenix. Did you get all that?"
"I sort of wish I had been taking notes, but yeah, I think I got it."
"So what should I do?"
"Well, if you don't tell him how you feel, it will probably be eating away at you. You need to get it off your chest. Besides, you have to take the chance, right?"
"Okay. I'll tell him," Rory said firmly.
"But then again, he might reject you. And then you'd feel even worse than if you had just kept it to yourself."
"So, which is it? Tell him or not?"
"I don't know. This is a tough one."
Rory pulled on her hair in frustration. "Argh! I wish that I could just say that I never had feelings for Jess and never could. It would make things so much easier."
She paused for a second to regain composure. "But I think I'm going to tell him. It can't be any worse than it already is."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jess sat down on the park bench behind the gazebo to finish Seymour, an Introduction in peace. But he soon found that he had traded in the sound of hammers and drills in the diner for the sound of a leaf blower. He could just barely hear two people talking inside the gazebo, and wondered how they could carry on a conversation through all the noise.
Jess read one paragraph five times without understanding a word before deciding that he would never get any reading done here. But just as he got up to go back into the diner, the leaf blower stopped and he found that he could fully hear the conversation coming from the gazebo. It was Rory's voice.
". . .I never had feelings for Jess and never could," is all he heard before the leaf blower began again.
Jess felt his heart begin to fall. He had always feared that Rory didn't really have feelings for him; that she still loved Dean. It was exactly what Lorelai had said. But hearing it come straight from her was more than he could bear. Jess felt tears well up in his eyes, but he pushed them away. He hadn't cried in five years, and he wasn't going to do it now. He took a deep breath and walked away from the gazebo with determination. Phoenix wasn't the answer, but Jess would have to find someway of getting over Rory. For good.
Next time: Rory and Jess have another confrontation that leads to one of them exposing how they truly feel. But they won't be riding off into the sunset just yet.