RETURNING HOME, PART ONE

CHAPTER TWO. AN UNEXPECTED COMPANION

The next morning – shortly before eight, as a glance towards his digital clock revealed to him – Jess extracted himself from his cocoon of blankets, feeling emotionally drained. He found his mother in the kitchen, eating toast and jam and reading TV Guide. He was too tired to put up his defences.

"I'm sorry about rushing out of here last night."

"That's OK Jess," she said with a broad smile. "Would you like some toast?" With the exception of the previous day's soup, she had never fed him before. Out of necessity, Jess had always been self-sufficient. He didn't know why she was offering now.

"I can get it."

He set about fixing himself a little breakfast and then brought it over to the table where she sat. "Anything good on tonight?"

"I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was reading." She chuckled self-deprecatingly and made a move to hand him the TV Guide. "You wanna give it a go?"

"Nah. I prefer books to television anyway."

"I know you do. Read anything good lately?"

"Always. You?"

"Never. You must get that from your father."

His mother continued flipping through the magazine and sipping her orange juice. Jess finished his breakfast to another surprisingly companionable silence. When finished, he stated, "Well I'm going to the park."

"Washington Square?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at her. How did she know where he hung out? he thought. "Yeah," his voice was guarded.

She shrugged with a grin. "I've just seen you there before Jess, and it's not too far from the apartment so it was a likely guess. You don't have to look at me like that."

"Oh."

"We should probably get you re-enrolled in school."

"I guess," he mumbled.

"Anyway, we'll talk about that later. I have to get to work now." She got up and carried her plate to the sink. "Have a good day," she said, stopping short of kissing him on his forehead. Obviously, she had thought better of doing that.

"Bye." And then she was gone. Jess sat at the table for a moment, perplexed. What the hell was happening between him and his mother? Were they… getting along? True, Jess hadn't committed any crimes since being back home; she had no reason to yell at him. But then, that had never seemed to stop her before. Now she's hugging him and practically kissing him on the forehead? Things were changing.

With an involuntary shudder, Jess put it out of his mind and headed for the bathroom. He hopped in the shower. A little while later he was pulling a shirt over his head and grabbing his book and keys.

At the park, everything was fresh and relaxing as usual. The birds were chirping, people were talking and laughing, behind him dogs were playfully barking. However none of it could distract Jess from his book, he was so thoroughly engrossed in it. Nothing that is except the soft voice that came up behind him.

"Hey."

Jess let his book drop down a bit. That sounded like… Could it be? He turned in his seat and there indeed was Rory, looking fresh faced and happy. A grin spread across his face as his heart sped up. "How you doing?"

"Good. How 'bout you?"

"Good." Getting better all the time, he thought. "You hungry?"

"Starved," she replied with a sheepish face.

Standing up, he declared, "I know a place." Walking around the park bench he took note of his page number and closed the book. As he began to lead her out of the park, he briefly wondered if he had the nerve to put his arm around her shoulders. Instead, to give his arms something to do, he opted for holding his book behind his back.

What on Earth was Rory doing here? It was a Thursday. She should be at Chilton. In fact, he thought, eyeing her again, she was wearing her school uniform; had she skipped? No, it wasn't possible. Rory would never skip school. But then again, the facts seemed to indicate it.

So many questions ran through his head. What could possibly have happened to bring her here? And most importantly, did Dean know? Jess didn't dare ask these things though. He was afraid if he brought them up, it would scare her away. She was skittish that way.

Trying to clear his mind by clearing his throat, he reiterated, "I know a place. I'll treat you if you'd like."

"Sounds good," she said and smiled shyly at him. The two of them stood on the corner for a moment, waiting for a break in traffic. Jess stuffed his book in his back pocket and took off his jacket. He was suddenly feeling very hot.

"How are you?" he asked, weighing the question carefully before uttering it.

"I'm good."

It was then that Jess realized he was repeating himself. He was glad she didn't call him on it, considering he'd brought it to her attention when, the night before on the phone, she'd repeated herself. "How was your trip?" he asked. It was another variation of the same question but now Jess was trying to elicit a more descriptive answer.

"It was fun. There was this guy on the bus who actually started a sing-a-long. It was crazy. All these people singing 'George of the Jungle'."

Jess was dumbfounded. "You're lying. Doesn't sound very 'New York'."

She laughed calmly and Jess knew he could believe her. "I'm not lying. There was a sing-a-long on the bus. But, there were also a lot of people who thought the guy was nuts and they didn't sing. One guy told him to… um… 'politely' shut his mouth."

"Did he stop singing?"

"No. He kept right on singing and gave the other guy the finger."

"That sounds like 'New York'."

He joined her in her laughter this time. "Does it sound like New York?" she asked, once she'd stopped laughing. "I don't know; it's not so different here. I think I could get used to it." They crossed the street and stepped up onto the curb. "I feel very urban today."

"Oh yeah. The plaid just screams urban." Urban or not, she looked good. Jess was glad he'd worn a shirt today without any rips in it.

"I think I look like a native," she insisted.

"How well do you know Manhattan?" Although he'd said it straight, his thoughts were filled with sarcasm.

"I've been here a few times. We saw the Bangles here."

Some sarcasm crept in this time. He couldn't help it; it was in his nature. "When was that? 20 years ago?"

"It was a reunion and they were great."

"Yeah they're OK," he conceded.

Rory continued. "And a couple of years ago Mom drove us in to shop and she couldn't find a good parking place and all the parking lots were a total rip off so she kept making u-turns and cutting off taxis and we were being screamed at in so many different languages that we just turned around and drove home and bought a hummel at the curio store in Stars Hollow."

"How very adventurous."

"I'm just saying I'm no stranger to the Big Apple."

"You are if you're calling it the Big Apple!" he guffawed.

"So I don't have the lingo down yet but at least I have the attitude." Her smile was delightful.

"You do huh?"

She gave him a proud look before replying "Oh yeah. When I was getting a locker for my backpack at the bus stop there was this guy and he was just standing there staring at me. And instead of ignoring him, I just fixed him with a really withering stare."

"Now that I've gotta see!"

"No," she answered, embarrassed.

"Oh come on! Let me see your withering stare!" he pleaded jovially, turning his body towards hers as they continued walking down the street.

"It's dangerous. I could hurt you."

"I've been hurt before."

"No."

Jess sighed good-naturedly. "I'm disappointed," he said to which she made a slight noise as if to say "Oh well". Reaching for her wrist, he changed the subject. "So you're arm's OK?"

"Yeah. It looks worse than it is."

There were a number of stickers on her cast. One sticker of Emily the Strange caught his attention. "I like this Emily chick. Friend of yours?"

"She's a friend to all of us dispossessed."

By this time, they had reached their destination. Jess stated, "So here's our lunch place."

"A hot dog stand?"

"Hey I eat here every day. It's nothing fancy but…" By this time, Jess thought maybe he should have brought her some place else, some place more impressive. But Jess didn't know what he should do; he didn't know why she was here.

"No I love it. It's perfect."

"Good." Relaxing, Jess ordered "One with everything on it?"

"Make that two please."

Jess reached into his pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills. Trying to straighten them, he decided to bite the bullet and ask her about Dean. "So uh… how's…" But that's as far as he got, before his nerves got the better of him.

"Luke?" she offered.

Relieved, he decided to go along with the suggestion. Why not? He was curious about Luke too. "Yeah."

"OK. He went fishing."

Jess snickered under his breath. "Fishing?"

"Yeah. He didn't catch anything though."

"Probably used the wrong bait."

"Yeah. It's a common… fishing… blunder."

She'd spoken haltingly. Jess took it as a sign that she didn't want to talk about Luke either. Jess hoped his vocal tone reflected his desire to close the subject. "So he's good?"

"Yeah. He's good. I can tell him hello for you if you want."

"Whatever."

The vender passed them their hotdogs and Rory, the perfect picture of small-town graciousness, thanked him. The two started across the street as they each took bites. Rory exclaimed in delight, "Oh my God. This is really good."

"I'm glad you like it. So how much time you got?"

"I got a bit."

"There's a record store you should check out. It's run by this insane freak who's like a walking encyclopedia for every punk and garage band record ever made. Catalogue numbers: It's crazy. The place is right outta High Fidelity."

Jess had spoken enthusiastically and Rory followed suit "Let's go."

"OK." Jess made his way to the top of a stairway that led underground.

"Where are you going?"

"Subway," Jess said matter-of-factly, pointing down the flight of stairs.

She hummed and hawed. "I thought we were gonna walk."

"It's 15 blocks! Come on," he encouraged, realizing she was nervous. "I think you'll like it."

"Do they allow hot dogs in the subway?"

"You are so an out-of-towner!" At that, she shot him a look and haughtily passed by him at the top of the stairs, taking the steps quickly. Jess followed her down, watching her hair as it swung behind her. At the first landing, Jess slipped two tokens into the revolving gate and, one by one, they were admitted into the station.

They would catch the next northbound train, which would be arriving, as always, at any moment. As they descended the last of the stairs, Rory put on a brave face as though she wasn't scared to be underground in the New York City subway system. Jess could tell that she was anxious though. Just as she stepped onto the platform, the southbound train stormed into the station towards them, a whirl of movement and noise. Rory watched the train, wide eyed, as the gust of wind it generated whipped around them and caused paper and plastic wrappers to swirl at their feet. She took a step back from the track, closer to the stairs and to Jess. He could almost feel the heat emanating from her.

"Excuse me!" said a woman coming down the stairs. "You're blocking the way."

"Sorry!" said Rory dismayed, stumbling forward again. Jess smiled and, with a hand on her shoulder, gently guided her to the track on the opposite side of the platform. They stood next to a pillar where they wouldn't disturb the myriad of people milling about. She watched as the southbound train, with the chime of a few short notes, closed its doors and began to leave the station.

"Your first time in a subway?" he asked.

"Oh. No. Me and the subway? We go way back." Her eyes twinkled; she knew she wasn't fooling anybody. "Yeah actually."

"It's not so bad."

"No." She leaned closer to him, speaking conspiratorially, "It's kind of exciting."

He smiled, his eyes uncharacteristically bright. He was feeling exhilarated as well.

They could hear the rumble of the northbound train now. She was peering down the dark track trying to see it, while trying to stay as far away from the track as possible. Jess was ignoring the train, having eyes only for Rory. When the train finally turned a corner and burst into the station, Rory's lips parted a bit in breathless awe.

Her hair blew around her face as the train sped by, taking a long time before having fully entered the station and screeching to a stop.

The doors opened spewing forth a throng of people. Jess stepped forward and then noticed Rory was still standing behind him at the pillar. "Hey Urbanite!" When he had her attention, he called out "Come on!" as though encouraging a puppy. He held out his arm welcomingly.

She took his hand then, in her normal platonic way, while he tenderly pulled her though the doors. He couldn't help but notice her practically leap over the slight gap between the platform and the train, as if afraid that she would get sucked down onto the track. Boy, she really is nervous! He thought, stifling a laugh.

Inside there was standing room only. Jess hung on to the overhead bar while Rory held onto the seatback beside her. When the train started to move, she stumbled slightly, smiling and balancing her half-eaten hot dog. After about 3 stops, they were able to sit down, squeezing together into a tight space.

"So you found me in the park," he stated as he glanced down at her plaid kilted thigh touching his.

"Yeah. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't found you there."

"Didn't Luke give you my address?"

"I guess I could have asked Luke for your address. But that would mean telling someone I was coming."

"No one knows you're here?"

Rory finished off her hotdog. She glanced around for a receptacle to place her crumpled napkin. Not finding one, she tucked the napkin in her palm and answered his question "Nope."

"Oh my God! You rebel."

"Yeah. But unlike you, I have a cause."

Jess was just about to ask her what her cause was when he realized they'd reached their stop – they had arrived all too soon for Jess. "Oh! Geez! This is our stop. Come on." They exited the train moments before the doors began closing again, and headed for the escalator. On the way, Rory found the garbage can she'd sought.

Emerging from the station, Rory bounced onto the sidewalk and into the sunshine, Jess trotting close behind her. "That was fun."

Jess laughed. "You have very simple pleasures." But Jess had enjoyed it too. There were so many people on the train; it had been the perfect excuse to be close to Rory. He could still feel the weight of her body pressed up against his. He took a deep controlling breath. "This way. The store's just around the corner."

A bell jingled as they stepped into the narrow record shop. They were at once aurally assaulted by several loud guitar licks from a punk record. Albums were stacked on either side of them and paraphernalia lined the walls. "Wow," she uttered. "This is great." Soon they were each contentedly flipping through the sea of LP's.

Finally Rory broke their silence. "Ak! This cover is gross," she said, pensively holding up a copy of 'I Get Wet' by Andrew W.K.

"You better watch what you say or that'll end up behind a Rory curtain!" Jess whispered, causing her to giggle nervously and drop the record back on the shelf. He chuckled and, after allowing more comfortable silence between them, spoke again "I haven't even heard of half of these bands."

"I love that about this place," Rory replied. "God. Lane would want to live here."

Jess crossed the aisle to look through the S's. "Who's Slin?"

"I don't know."

The owner of the store broke into their conversation. "Grunge band out of Kentucky. Two albums plus a double A-side single. Disbanded in '94."

"Thanks," said Jess. He and Rory shared a look. He nodded in the direction of the owner as if to say 'would you get a load of that'. She giggled softly and returned to the rack of records behind her.

"Oh my God!"

"What?" Jess inquired, stepping across the aisle towards her. He was acutely aware of their physical closeness. He wondered if he could step any closer to her without causing her to move away from him.

"Look!"

"The Go-Go's. You must have that one."

"No. For my mom. This was her favourite group when she was my age and it's signed by Belinda." Rory was showing him the record but Jess's eyes drifted to her animated face. "This would be the perfect graduation present. I've been looking for something all week long and I couldn't find anything and now I have Belinda."

"Graduation?" Jess solicited.

"Oh! From college for her business classes."

"I'm surprised she has time for anything except lighting darts on fire and throwing them at my picture."

"Well, it's not a lot of time but…" she agreed.

"Uh huh. Go on. Get it. She'll like it."

"Thank you so much for bringing me here." She was smiling up at him. "This was fate."

"I think it was." Jess crammed as much innuendo into his statement as possible.

"And in return, I just might show you my withering stare." With a slight skip, she headed off in the direction of the cash register.

"I'm a lucky man." Jess turned back to the record display. He loved the way they bantered. It brought a smile to his face. He was flipping through the records again but paused to sneak a look at Rory. When she caught him looking at her, she smiled brightly. He wasn't embarrassed to have been caught – she had snuck a look at him too.

***

Some 45 minutes after they had entered, Rory and Jess left the record store. Standing outside the door as people passed by, Rory once again expressed her pleasure at having had the chance to browse the recordings. "I'm so glad that we went in there. That was great. And I just know my mother will treasure this record."

"I'm sure she will," Jess replied, smiling at her happy face and shoving his hands into his jacket's pockets. "I had a good time too."

"But you didn't even buy anything."

"I can buy something later. I live here remember? I'm always in this store."

"If you spend so much time in this store, how come you had such a good time in there today?"

"So what should we do now?" Jess came back, deftly ignoring her question.

"One would think you'd be bored in a store that you always go to." Rory continued knowingly.

"One would think. Do you have time to do something else before you have to head back?"

"Why, Mr. Mariano! I do believe you're squirming again!" Rory said calmly, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah. You know how you love it when I squirm." He smirked wryly.

"Yeah. I do." Rory slipped her arm through his. "I've got about another hour. So shall we head back to the subway?" She began to leisurely lead him towards the corner.

Jess was floored. Rory was acting so different today. Setting aside the fact that she had actually skipped school and traveled the distance to New York City alone and in secret, now they were walking arm in arm? Rory was flirting with him. Jess knew it now. For the umpteenth time he wondered what had happened with Dean. There had been a few moments already that day, where Jess had meant to bring up her boyfriend, but he'd always chickened out, never wanting to ruin the moment. And, despite his intense curiosity, he certainly wasn't going to bring Dean up now – not with Rory touching him! "Are you feeling a little more confident?" Jess asked, looking down at her close beside him and knowing full well by her behaviour that she was. "About the subway, I mean."

"I can handle anything today!" she said with determination.

"How bout we go down to Grand Central?"

"Grand Central? The station?" Some of her bravado seeped out through her uncertain eyes.

"The one and only."

"The biggest subway station in New York City?"

"According to Guinness, the biggest terminal in the world. And it's not just for the subway. Commuter trains from Westchester and Connecticut also stop there."

"You don't say." She fell back, extracting her arm from his. He turned to look at her.

"You OK? You look a little green." Jess peered into her eyes, concerned by her nervousness but momentarily distracted by her large feathery lashes. "Come on! Where's your chutzpah?"

"I think it's hiding in my shoe."

Jess gave her a look that blatantly stated his disbelief. "You've made it this far."

With a sigh she raised her eyebrows, a hopeful expression adorning her face. "You're right. I can do this."

"Right on! Let's go, it's only a couple more stops further north." By this time, Jess had cupped her hand in his and she let him guide her away. It is so easy to take her hand, he marvelled. He wasn't sure if he owed this facility to her newfound adventurousness, or conversely, her innate fear of the unknown. All he knew was, to hold Rory's hand, felt comfortable and… right.

"OK." Throwing caution to the wind, she closely followed him back into the subway station and they hopped once again onto the northbound train.

***

In no time, the pair stepped out of the train into the lower level concourse of Grand Central Terminal. "Oh this is nice. Not bad at all," Rory said in approval, once she got a look at its retail community of stores, food markets and restaurants.

"You think this is nice, you should see upstairs."

"Let's go." And he led her away. Jess was holding Rory's hand again as they walked. It was easier for them to stay together that way, as they navigated the hoards of commuters.

"So. What do you think?" Jess asked after the ramp they had climbed opened up into the main concourse.

When Rory saw the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal, she immediately seemed impressed. "Wow! I never expected it to look like this!" she said as she walked, gazing upward in awe.

"What did you expect?"

"Well. It's so beautiful. I expected something more dreary."

"Huh."

"I thought the ceilings would close in on you – you know? - and make it feel like we were underground, like at that other station. But these ceilings must be 120 feet high! And look, there are constellations painted on it!"

"They just restored it a while back. Nice huh?"

"Very nice! I feel like I'm in another time, another world," gushed Rory unselfconsciously.

Jess felt the same way – he was in a world that he wanted to stay in forever, alone with Rory Gilmore. Quit being so sappy, Mariano! he chastised himself with inward embarrassment. He was glad he hadn't revealed his sissified thoughts to her. "Come on," he said instead. "I'll treat you to a coffee."

"Ooh! I bet you can get some great coffee here."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not a guzzler like you."

"I'm not a guzzler!"

"Like a Hoover Wet/Dry vac! I haven't seen you drink a coffee all day. I'm surprised you're not shaking from withdrawal, begging for a fix!"

Rory playfully swatted him and then placed her hand back in his. "So lead the way," she instructed.

"Where?"

"To the coffee place."

"Hang on, I'm looking for it. I don't know where it is."

"You don't?" Rory asked in disbelief.

"I'm not a guzzler like you."

"I'm not a guz- Argh! Alright."

So they wandered around for a while. Every step of the way, Rory marvelled at the complex, which was a community in itself, and at the people negotiating it at break-neck speeds. Soon, they found themselves back in the lower concourse, in the market district. It was there that they discovered a Starbucks. Rory decided to pamper herself with a French Roast whereas Jess chose a hot chocolate. After paying, he took hold of her record so that she could hold her venti – twenty fluid ounce – coffee in her good hand.

They made their way to a table in a somewhat secluded area. From there, they were able to watch the passers-by. Before sitting down across from Rory, Jess removed his book from his back pocket. He placed both the record and the book on the table beside them. As though irresistibly attracted, Rory picked up the book and flipped it open.

"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, huh?"

"Yeah well, I've delved into the lives of the beats. Figured I might as well graduate into the world of the hippies."

"Uh-huh. I'm surprised you haven't already done that."

"Well actually, I have read this before. It's pretty good. You should read it. All about Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters trying to recreate the feeling of Kerouac's 'On the Road', trying to provoke thought where things are normally taken for granted. They traveled across America, staging street theatre and LSD parties."

"A drug book huh? Gee, I couldn't tell by the title," Rory said with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's not just a drug book. It deals evenly with the good and the bad side of drugs. Tom Wolfe stays impartial."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Tom Wolfe's a journalist, just like you will be."

Rory looked up at him through her eyelashes and smiled shyly. Jess felt his own lips tugging into a silly grin just looking at her. A moment later, after he had enjoyed a healthy dose of eye contact and was starting to feel self conscious, he continued, "It's journalistic, but make no mistake, it is a novel. It's interesting. You've read 'On the Road' right?"

"Yeah."

"Well you'll even recognize some of the characters in this book then. Neal Cassady's in this one too."

"'Dean Moriarty'?"

"Yeah but they called him 'Speed Limit' by the time this was written."

Rory took a mouthful of coffee and rolled it around her tongue like a true connoisseur, an expression of pleasure flooded her rosy features as she considered the book she was flipping through. Coffee and a book? She was in her element. "Is it like 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'? In that same vein?"

"It's trippier, but it does deal with the same themes of morality and non-conformity. And you can't fully understand the Grateful Dead's 'Truckin' without reading this book. You should read it. I'd lend it to you but…"

"Yeah. But I'd have to mail it back." The smile dropped from her face. "I can take it out of the library though. Back in Stars Hollow."

"You do that."

"Stars Hollow! What time is it?" She checked her watch and emitted a little gasp. "I should get going. My mom's graduation is tonight."

Jess sighed. All good things must come to an end. "You can't miss that," he agreed ruefully.

"I so cannot miss that. These are the things that happen once in a lifetime!"

"Well OK. Let's go."

***

They caught a westbound train to get to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and, this time, Rory stepped onto the train with confidence. On board, there were seats available, as it was after the lunch hour and before the afternoon rush. They sat down as the door chimes sounded again. She mimicked them happily. "Bing-bing! Bing-bong!"

He laughed, whilst looking down and rubbing his cheek, pretending to be mortified. Her laughter echoed his. "Am I embarrassing you?" she asked, nudging him playfully with her shoulder.

He looked into her blue eyes, marvelling at the way they sparkled. "No. Not really," he relented. The truth was, her excitement for the subway, and New York in general, was rubbing off on him. He was experiencing it with new eyes.

***