LITTLE VISIT 6: SUNDAY AFTERNOON

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Rory was dreaming. She was in a country mansion, getting lost in the corridors of the lower floors. She was looking for an Old English manuscript that was kept by the owner of the manor, but as of yet, she hadn't found the library. She turned one corner, and was momentarily astounded to find herself in a bowling alley. There was a bowling alley right there in the middle of the mansion's basement. As interesting as that was, Rory didn't stop for long; She carried on.

Turning another corner, she came across the kitchen. Inside, chefs were throwing sneakers into stovetop creations to give the entrees that certain 'kick'. The Oompa Loompas were there, as well as a man who didn't look or act anything like Willy Wonka, but was him nonetheless. "Did I ever tell you how lovely you are?" the eccentric candy man asked her, once she'd stepped inside the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, but all questions must be submitted in writing, thank you," she replied, knowing that the man would be impressed that she'd quoted him.

And that was when Willy Wonka leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Rory was shocked. "That wasn't in writing," she mumbled in a daze. He'd been even more impressed than she'd expected.

"No, but I thought it was pretty good." And he kissed her again. By this time his face had grown even fuzzier, unrecognizable. Perhaps it wasn't Willy Wonka after all. And yet, the voice sounded so familiar. Why did the voice sound so familiar?

And the lips, they felt so warm, and somehow more real than anything else in the world, more immediate. The face was indistinguishable, the voice disembodied, but the lips were so… real.

"Wake up, Sleepyhead," the voice said.

She'd been dreaming, she realized now. Her eyes fluttered open. Jess was propped up on his elbows, watching her with an expectant smile. "It was you. You kissed me," Rory murmured.

"I did at that." He paused before asking, "Was it the wrong thing to do?"

"Not unless I have bad breath."

"No. Your breath is just fine, as are your lips."

Rory smiled and ruffled his hair, as much due to his flippant remark as to her own uncontrollable need to touch him again. "Good morning."

"It is indeed," he murmured slickly, his tone urging a giggle from her throat.

That was an incredible way to wake up, she reflected, feeling cozy and calm under the covers; enjoying the intimacy in Jess's warm gaze. For a wicked moment she indulged in a vivid daydream, putting all thoughts of mere friendship out of her mind. She wanted to snuggle up to him, to pull him partially above her. Wanted to place her arms about his waist and nestle her face in the crook of his neck… and perchance, to kiss softly, the skin she found there. The dream's kiss had been incredible, yes. But she thought that, perhaps, it would be even better to kiss Jess when fully awake.

"That was nice," she stated simply, her heart pounding, in the end too scared to take the chance and make her dreams reality.

"What was?"

"Being awoken with a kiss."

He tilted his head to the side, giving her a smug look that saw straight inside her. "Oh now we start with the Sleeping Beauty references," he joked dryly.

"No," she came back in amusement.

"Frog Princess?"

"Careful," she warned. "Or I'll lick you with my sticky frog tongue."

"I'll take my chances. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well." She stretched languorously. "How 'bout you?"

"Good," he replied, flopping down on his side and stretching also. "What do you want to do today?" he asked casually, reminding her that she shouldn't be having such thoughts about Jess, her friend.

"Hmmm," she murmured, looking at him a little longer. He was sprawled on his side, propping his head with his hand and looking downward. A finger on his other hand was lazily tracing the floral pattern on her bottom sheet. His actions were both charmingly innocent and unintentionally seductive. Friendship etiquette be damned, Rory was finding that keeping her thoughts platonic was no easy task.

Rory fixated on his neck once again, the images at first loving and temperate, but soon progressing beyond. In her mind's eye she could picture the arousal on his face, as she dragged her lips down the side of his neck, stopping at the point just above his shoulder to lightly sink her teeth in. Rory wanted to kiss him again, wanted to start something, but she held back. She knew if she kissed him now, there was no telling what would happen. Dangerous, she thought weakly. Dangerous to have Jess in my bed.

"You have any ideas?" he asked again. She turned her thoughts back to their plans for the day, but not without much effort. The truth was, she had a lot of ideas, just none of which she could admit to Jess. Yet.

Rory considered their options for a while, a possibility occurring to her only after she'd dragged her eyes away from his broad shoulders and gentle expression and instead stared beyond the foot of the bed at her bookshelf. "There's this farmer in Bethany," she remembered, speaking slowly, softly. "Who buys and sells books and decided to turn his barn into a bookstore. It's just a few minutes north of New Haven, in the country. I've never been there myself. I've only just heard of the place, but I hear he's got some rare things. We could check that out."

"OK. Sounds cool." And the two of them set about dragging themselves out of bed, with Rory deciding that she had narrowly averted friendship disaster.

An hour later they had picked up some breakfast from the deli and were heading out of town in Rory's car. Once they'd left the city streets behind them, Jess unwrapped her sandwich and passed it to her.

"Thanks," she said as they pulled onto the open road. It was a beautiful day, she mused as she munched on the sandwich. Early afternoon sunlight danced in the reds and oranges of the autumn trees. The weather, sunny but slightly brisk, complemented perfectly the scenic rural setting. "It might be nice to have a picnic out here someday," she commented.

"We'll have to do that sometime."

"Yeah we will." Rory smiled. Having a picnic with Jess would be perfect. Right then, as her car negotiated a curve in the road, Rory was picturing Jess easing her down on their picnic blanket, leaning over her, food forgotten…

"Hey, the sign says the next turn is ours. You'd better slow down," he brought her back to reality.

Rory shook herself out of her reverie with chagrin and took the next left. Slow down had so many connotations. Apparently dragging herself out of bed had done little to stay her fantasies. It was incredible how two nights alone with Jess had changed the chemical balance of her brain.

Running through all the time they had ever spent together, all the moments they had ever shared, she wondered how she could have missed it for so long; it was so obvious to her now. She did not want to be Jess Mariano's friend.

A short time later they were turning off the main road and arriving at the Whitlock Farm Book Barn. Rory pulled the car up to the red building, and shutting off the engine, she peered at it through the windshield. "Well here we are."

"Yup… Betcha it's even more impressive inside."

Rory looked over at Jess, poked him in the ribs with a forefinger, and smirked. "OK then. Let's go in."

Inside the upper barn were housed thousands of used books and magazines in every category, shape and size. Rory instantly fell in love with the atmosphere of the place: rustic, very cozy, and very peaceful. And at the sight of such a vast literary array, so full of promise, Rory put her emotional realization on the backburner for the time being. Eventually the two of them split up, enthusiastically wending their own ways through the rows of shelves. But, despite the potential of the bookstore, even after hours of rooting through shelves, Rory still hadn't found anything she desperately needed.

Stepping into a different aisle, Rory came upon Jess. He was standing about fifteen feet away, his head bent in thoughtful silence as he ran a finger along the spines of a series of old magazines. His hair, having been allowed to dry naturally, was falling softly to his brow and his lips were curved into a peaceful expression. Rory leaned on the edge of a bookshelf and observed him. It filled her with happiness to see him in his element, to see him so content.

Jess was, without a doubt, the most beautiful person she had ever seen… or known. Strong and passionate, but gentle - with eyes and wit that sparkled with just enough humour to make life interesting. Deep in thought, Rory licked her lips; they'd become dry.

Jess had kissed her that morning. For Rory, it had felt so right to take their friendship to that other level. But what had Jess's intentions been?

She stepped up to Jess and, pausing to caress his bared neck and broad shoulders with her eyes, she peered over his shoulder. He was flipping through a National Geographic.

He turned his head to look at her. "You find anything good?"

Only you, she thought with a tinge of sadness. She could feel the physical attraction between them - it passed back and forth like electric sparks - she only hoped there was more to it than that. That is, she hoped he felt more; she already knew she did. "Hmm. Not a whole lot. I was hoping to find something a bit more rare here."

The store caretaker, the only other person in the barn besides them, stepped around a bookshelf to say, "If you're a serious collector you should take a look at the lower barn. We keep the signed and first editions there."

Jess nodded, filed the magazine back on the shelf and presented his hand to Rory. "Shall we?" he asked, looking steadily into her eyes and causing her jaw to fall slack by his intensity.

Rory broke the gaze to look down at the hand he offered. To see it filled her with renewed optimism. Surely to hold someone's hand indicated something more than infatuation. At least, she wanted to think it did. "Yes." Rory smilingly took his hand, delighted by its warmth and by the way his fingers wrapped around her own. She let him lead her away.

They indeed found more interesting things in the lower barn, albeit much more expensive things. It was there that Rory, almost immediately, found what she was looking for. "Jess," she whispered as she shakily pulled the small but thick hardcover book off the shelf. "Look."

He turned around and stood before her. "Wow," he murmured in response, eyes wide. He seemed almost as impressed as she felt.

"I'll die if this is signed," she added as she flipped it open. Upon finding no signature contained within the book's bindings, she calmed a bit. "Oh well. I probably couldn't have afforded a signed copy anyway."

"How much is it?"

"It's twenty-five dollars."

"Not bad, considering. You gonna get it?"

"Do you have any idea how cool this is?"

He smiled, cocked his head to the side, and looked into her eyes. "Like ice. You gonna get it?" he asked again.

Rory smiled back at him. Jess, she realized, was probably the only person in the world who understood, as she did, how important a book could be. She could see that understanding in the gentle depths of his dark, hypnotic eyes. She wanted so much to show him how she felt about him…

Rory closed the book and pressed it to the small of his back, pulling him closer. She slid her free hand under his arm and, grasping his shoulder, gently eased him downward. He reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her moments before she captured his lips with her own. She saw his closed eyes and the delicious look of exquisite torture on his face before her own eyes fluttered shut and she gave herself up for the kiss.

Jess held her tightly against him, as his lips stroked hers gently, again and again, evoking such feelings of pleasure in her that she truly thought she would faint if he let go. His hand trailed up her spine to caress her hair, and then to cradle her head. His fingers had made the journey in such a delightful way that she found herself massaging his back, hoping to induce those same tingling feelings in him that he had in her.

Rory was halfway aware of a sigh escaping her lips as she urged his body closer, one last time, before slipping her lips away. Jess's lips held their puckered expression for a moment as his eyes drowsily opened. "I'm gonna take the book," she said.

"Mmmm," he murmured, sending a sweet jolt to her heart. "I like that book."

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A/N:

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