Author's Note: A couple of little things you oughtta know about my fics. 1.) This is a literati fic. They will ALL be Literati fics… (big shout out to the Java Junkies, though) 2.) I don't believe in disclaimers because I, of course, own all of the settings, events, dialogue, and characters that I work with (I've even got Jess under my bed right now.) 3.) This fic is one in a random fic of a series that I'm experimenting with in response to the events of the show. See, every time I see a Literati scene, I think (or used to think – now they're together! hoo-ha!) 'why isn't there more obvious angst and romance going on here?' and then I'd end up daydreaming about it for an hour. So this time, I wrote down my alternate reality of the episode. This one is fairly mild. Anything in transcript form is (you guessed it) directly from the transcript (I love you gilmoregirls.org! Thank you!) Paragraph form interruptions are all me and my wild daydreams. I hate to ask for a review, but do you guys want more of these? If you do, let me know, and I'll start posting them all in chronological order under a new title. I take suggestions (and other daydreams) of all kinds.. I know that all of you have imagined the episodes going in a different direction.. namely towards the bridge or the diner in search of a certain brooding young magician. If not, meh. Evie'
An Alternate ending to a scene from 'Eight o'clock at the Oasis.'
[Rory follows Jess up the pathway to the spigot]
RORY: You don't have to do this. I didn't ask you to do this. I can just find someone else to do it. [Jess turns off the sprinkler] Aw, you made it look so easy.
JESS: Yeah, it was loose. You just had to press down and give it a good twist, that's all.
RORY: Well, thank you.
JESS: You're welcome.
"So, you have to do this everyday?"
She nodded primly, "Ten minutes, three times a day."
He stored the information for later. "Good to know." She glanced up and savored his smile for a moment before the awkwardness returned, and they remember that they weren't on speaking terms.
JESS : So things are good?
RORY: Oh, yeah, really good.
JESS: Good.
RORY: Yeah, good. So. . .
"So, sprinklers, huh? Dangerous hobby." His lips curved into a smile, teasing her. She looked him up and down, his lean form outlined by his drenched clothes, as water dripped down his body and onto the sidewalk below. 'Dangerous is right…' His smile broadened as he watched her eyes trail down his figure, and he imitated her, opening his mouth to offer another snide comment. "You– "
Rory: [pager goes off] My pager.
JESS: Yeah, I figured.
[Rory checks the pager, then puts it away]
JESS: Who is it?
RORY: It's, uh, Dean. I paged him earlier to come over and help me and he just got the message, so he's. . .
JESS: Coming over to help.
RORY: Yeah.
JESS: Okay.
[Jess turns the sprinkler back on and walks away]
**************
Rory watched him turn the water back on and responded to his grin with one of her own.
Her smile faded as she watched him pass her by and walk away from her, just like he'd been doing for the weeks since she'd been back, just like she'd done at Sookie's wedding. "Jess?"
He stopped and turned back to face her. He remained silent, waiting for her to go on and giving her the space and the time to say what she needed to. He kept his expression neutral, holding back his trademark smirk, as he watched her pause, as if second guessing herself and her monosyllabic request before making a decision.
She walked down the pathway to him, head down, studiously not meeting his eyes. She was wringing her hands, twisting them and nervously playing with her knuckles. Less than a foot away from him, she was on dangerous ground, and they both knew it. "Um, so.. When you – I mean, how's the – Well, I just wanted to – "
"Rory." He cut her babbling short, seizing her fidgeting hands and holding them steady in his own. They didn't have time for her nervous ramblings – not with Dean on the way. He watched her close eyes for a fraction of a second as she bit her lip before courageously making eye contact. Her glance fluttered down to their now-entwined hands before returning to his unfaltering gaze. Noting her seeming discomfort, he tensed to move away, but, anticipating his movement, she tightened her grip on his hands, keeping them in contact.
Her voice was unsteady. "I just wanted to…" she nodded to the lawn around her, "thank you, I guess," she managed, as her sentence trailed off and her mind wandered.
"Any time." Satisfied with the response, she again forfeited eye contact, concentrating on the sidewalk to hide her blush. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."
Her head snapped up, her eyes searching his in an effort to affirm his double meaning. His intense gaze confirmed his meaning – if things had been different, if there was no Shane, if there was no Dean, if only they existed, then he would have been there sooner, she would have paged him, and not Dean, hell, they might have been together at the beginning of the whole incident, they might have been… they might have been.
And in that instant, there was no Shane, and there was no Dean, and they were standing there together, holding onto one another. He removed one of his hands from hers to remove a strand of hair from her face, tucking it neatly behind her ear. She licked her lips. He let his fingers leisurely trace her jaw line before resting under her chin, tilting her face up to his. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Rory.." he whispered as he leaned in. She closed her eyes.
"Rory!" A voice called a short distance behind them. The hazy, dazed cloudiness left her eyes as they started at the sound and sprang apart. They both glanced behind them, and were ensured that Dean was still out of sight.
Rory looked up at him with fear, and Jess rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming. "Don't worry," he sighed, as he touched her cheek faintly, and sped off in the opposite direction across the lawn, towards the house. Still frozen in place, Rory saw him wink, smirking as he hopped the wooden fence behind her, and disappeared out of sight just as Dean found her.
"Rory, hi." He rushed over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
Still entranced, she absent mindedly greeted him. "Hi. Dean. Hi. Oh, the spigot's over there." She pointed, vaguely aware of reality. She was mildly aware of him turning the water off and making his way back over to her. He placed his hands on her upper arms, and his touch jolted her out of her trance.
Looking at her accusingly, he asked, "Rory? Are you ok?"
"What? I'm fine," she stuttered, warily.
"You're not getting sick are you? C'mon, you should change out of that wet uniform before you catch cold."
"Hmm?" Glancing down, she noticed the water dripping from her skirt, as the plaid sogged and wrinkled in protest. "Oh, right."
"Maybe you've got a fever," he continued, concerned.
Her eyes lit up, a grin illuminating her features. "Yeah, a fever. Probably from the sprinklers… dangerous sprinklers."
Rory thought she could make out a low chuckle from the fence behind them and grinned, allowing the oblivious Dean to lead her away. After all, this was only the lawn's second watering today. She'd be back.