DISCLAIMER: Everything I've said before
"Controlling, defining, and we're sinking deeper."
-Tool
The ceaseless drone that had, at first, been an assaulting cacophony had now been regulated to a meaningless hum that hovered on the edge of his consciousness. True to his agreement with Luke, he had awakened inhumanly early this morning, as he had every morning, to assist his uncle with the breakfast crowd. He actually was not all that objected to the sacrifice of sleep. Sleep Town in the early morning had its rewardingly quiet moments. Often, he found himself at the bridge, feet dangling over the surface of the water, while his brain perused his latest literary pursuit.
Something ran along his skin and he paused his repetitive action of wiping the counter to look up at his surroundings. She had just entered the diner with her usual companion, who seemed to be sniffling. He drank in the image standing before him, her hair reflecting brown highlights as it lay glinting in the sun. His eyes found the counter once again and he wondered how clear he thought he could make its surface.
She had returned a little while now and they were yet to speak. He had, of course, known of her arrival. Shane had wanted to visit the town's little summer offering and who had he been to deny himself some amusement? It was a way to pass the time. His first vision of her had been after he'd raised his head from Shane's to capture a few moments' breath. Leaning against the tree, his head back and tilted slightly upwards, his slit eyes abruptly absorbed a familiar figure clad in a rather becoming dress. Her back was to him, her face was tilted up to look at Bag Boy. The unexpected and undesired delight at distinguishing her figure was instantly replaced by hard-edged bitterness as he saw her clasp Dean and walk away. Away from him. She probably had not even seen him standing there. He was perhaps not even a thought to her. Deep down, though, he knew that to be falsehood. But if she insisted on being stubborn, if she wanted to persevere with that farce of a relationship with Bag Boy, he would let her.
Just out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Luke was serving them, sparing him of that experience. Checking his watch, he whipped out his book from beneath the counter and, finding his page, resumed reading. He was unsure of whether or not Shane would be paying him a visit.
He heard her voice; she was but mere feet away from him. Feet away with a gaping gulf in between. What paths led there? Shaking away such fruitless thoughts, he once again focused his attention on the novel but he was aware that Shane had come into the diner.
SHANE: "Hey."
JESS: "Hey." He leaned over and met her halfway as she kissed him.
SHANE: "So?"
JESS: "One sec."
SHANE: "Jess."
JESS: "Relax." Casting Rory a sidelong glance, he closed the book and announced to Luke, "I'm out." He looked at Shane. "Let's go."
SHANE: "Okay."
He left the diner, thoughts stirring in his brain. Had he misread the expression in those sparkling sapphires? Had he only wanted to see that naked trace of anguish lying in their depths? God knows, Rory was not a master at concealing her emotions, especially not from him but he would not let himself fall from the safety in which he had wrapped himself. He would not.
Keeping well clear of the bridge, he and Shane found a secluded patch of grass where he tried to remove the pained pools that haunted his vision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had seen her come into the market. In fact, he had amusedly witnessed her banter with her mother while idly tracing the edges of some random box with his fingers. The streetlight captured her in its luminescence. It was not right that something so artfully artificial should embellish the glory of a creature so innocently natural. Standing there, looking at her, he lost the battle against himself. Alone, with her splendour there for him to bask in, he could let his guard down. It was very hard to support that wall against her insistent warmth.
Unaware of her exact location in the store, he silently willed her to come to him, so that he could be inches from her; so that he could again be close enough to feel her breathe, rather than have the distant glimpses he had been allowed since she had returned. A sound distracted him and he looked up: there she was. Their eyes met and he saw the same expression that he had observed earlier in the diner. That quickly disappeared, though. He decided to shatter the silence. The silence of more than six weeks.
JESS: "Doing a little shopping?"
RORY: "Yes. Excuse me." He saw the set of her face as she started to move away. Her behaviour irked him but not so much so that he was willing to lose this opportunity to talk to her. He put out his arm to prevent her from moving away.
JESS: "Why the cold shoulder?"
RORY: "No cold shoulder. I just have perishables here."
JESS: "Oh yeah, you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad."
RORY: "My mom's waiting for me." This time she did move away and he followed her, wanting, needing to hear her voice.
JESS: "How was Washington?"
RORY: "Fine."
JESS: "Do anything interesting?"
RORY: "Nope."
JESS: "Okay." So she apparently did not want to talk. This was something about which he expected her to have been excited. She did not seem enthused.
RORY: "What about you?" JESS: "What about me?" He smiled inwardly. She was concerned. And he had an idea what caused her interest.
RORY: "Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean." JESS: "Nope." He could be as uninformative as she.
RORY: "Really?"
JESS: "Really."
RORY: "So nothing happened this summer, at all?"
JESS: "It was hot. Two weeks ago there was a run on snowcones. Machine broke, people went crazy, Taylor tried to call in the National Guard, but -"
RORY: "I'm not talking about snowcones."
JESS: "What are you talking about then?" He knew perfectly well what she meant. He wondered if she would admit it.
RORY: "Nothing."
JESS: "Her name's Shane." He gave in.
RORY: "As in 'come back'?"
JESS: "Yup." Inwardly he was having a fit of laughter at her literary reference.
RORY: "Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great."
JESS: "So I've heard." A smirk hovered on his lips.
RORY: "Well, it is." She was suddenly so eloquent. He decided to confront it.
JESS: "Are you upset about something?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "I mean, me and Shane -"
RORY: "What about you and Shane?"
JESS: "I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face."
RORY: "Well, I'm still freaked out about the, uh, snowcone machine."
JESS: "Okay."
RORY: "I could care less about you and Shane."
JESS: "Good."
RORY: "It just surprised me, that's all."
JESS: "Why?" Ah, an opening. This would be interesting.
RORY: "Because."
JESS: "Because why?" Come on, Rory. Say it.
RORY: "Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding."
JESS: "Ah." A flicker of hope bloomed within him but he fought it, relegating it to a diminutive possibility deep, deep down.
RORY: "Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec."
She had really expected something different? After kissing him then abandoning him for weeks on end, she had TRULY expected something in a different vein? He was not a doting puppy.
JESS: "I'm sorry, did I hear from you at all this summer? Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me? You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything. . .very flattering, by the way. You go off to Washington. . . then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show."
RORY: "When did you see me with Dean?"
JESS: "At that stupid summer insanity plea the town put on."
RORY: "Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face."
JESS: "You didn't answer me." He had decided to ignore that one. He had a point to make.
RORY: "About what?" J
ESS: "Did you call me at all?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Did you send me a letter?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Postcard?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Smoke signal?"
RORY: "Stop."
JESS: "A nice fruit basket?"
RORY: "Enough!"
JESS: "Are you still with Dean? Come on, Rory, yes or no - are you still with Dean?"
RORY: "Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!"
And just as quickly that tiny flame in him perished. Construction began once again.
JESS: "Glad to hear it."
RORY: "Glad to tell you."
JESS: "See you around." He'd had enough.
RORY: "Whatever."
JESS: "Right back at ya." What WAS it that she wanted? To tease him, torment him? He was not to be played with.
A/N: Notice how both Luke and Jess say that same line "Right back at ya" intheir confrontation with a Gilmore? Must be in the blood.
"Controlling, defining, and we're sinking deeper."
-Tool
The ceaseless drone that had, at first, been an assaulting cacophony had now been regulated to a meaningless hum that hovered on the edge of his consciousness. True to his agreement with Luke, he had awakened inhumanly early this morning, as he had every morning, to assist his uncle with the breakfast crowd. He actually was not all that objected to the sacrifice of sleep. Sleep Town in the early morning had its rewardingly quiet moments. Often, he found himself at the bridge, feet dangling over the surface of the water, while his brain perused his latest literary pursuit.
Something ran along his skin and he paused his repetitive action of wiping the counter to look up at his surroundings. She had just entered the diner with her usual companion, who seemed to be sniffling. He drank in the image standing before him, her hair reflecting brown highlights as it lay glinting in the sun. His eyes found the counter once again and he wondered how clear he thought he could make its surface.
She had returned a little while now and they were yet to speak. He had, of course, known of her arrival. Shane had wanted to visit the town's little summer offering and who had he been to deny himself some amusement? It was a way to pass the time. His first vision of her had been after he'd raised his head from Shane's to capture a few moments' breath. Leaning against the tree, his head back and tilted slightly upwards, his slit eyes abruptly absorbed a familiar figure clad in a rather becoming dress. Her back was to him, her face was tilted up to look at Bag Boy. The unexpected and undesired delight at distinguishing her figure was instantly replaced by hard-edged bitterness as he saw her clasp Dean and walk away. Away from him. She probably had not even seen him standing there. He was perhaps not even a thought to her. Deep down, though, he knew that to be falsehood. But if she insisted on being stubborn, if she wanted to persevere with that farce of a relationship with Bag Boy, he would let her.
Just out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Luke was serving them, sparing him of that experience. Checking his watch, he whipped out his book from beneath the counter and, finding his page, resumed reading. He was unsure of whether or not Shane would be paying him a visit.
He heard her voice; she was but mere feet away from him. Feet away with a gaping gulf in between. What paths led there? Shaking away such fruitless thoughts, he once again focused his attention on the novel but he was aware that Shane had come into the diner.
SHANE: "Hey."
JESS: "Hey." He leaned over and met her halfway as she kissed him.
SHANE: "So?"
JESS: "One sec."
SHANE: "Jess."
JESS: "Relax." Casting Rory a sidelong glance, he closed the book and announced to Luke, "I'm out." He looked at Shane. "Let's go."
SHANE: "Okay."
He left the diner, thoughts stirring in his brain. Had he misread the expression in those sparkling sapphires? Had he only wanted to see that naked trace of anguish lying in their depths? God knows, Rory was not a master at concealing her emotions, especially not from him but he would not let himself fall from the safety in which he had wrapped himself. He would not.
Keeping well clear of the bridge, he and Shane found a secluded patch of grass where he tried to remove the pained pools that haunted his vision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had seen her come into the market. In fact, he had amusedly witnessed her banter with her mother while idly tracing the edges of some random box with his fingers. The streetlight captured her in its luminescence. It was not right that something so artfully artificial should embellish the glory of a creature so innocently natural. Standing there, looking at her, he lost the battle against himself. Alone, with her splendour there for him to bask in, he could let his guard down. It was very hard to support that wall against her insistent warmth.
Unaware of her exact location in the store, he silently willed her to come to him, so that he could be inches from her; so that he could again be close enough to feel her breathe, rather than have the distant glimpses he had been allowed since she had returned. A sound distracted him and he looked up: there she was. Their eyes met and he saw the same expression that he had observed earlier in the diner. That quickly disappeared, though. He decided to shatter the silence. The silence of more than six weeks.
JESS: "Doing a little shopping?"
RORY: "Yes. Excuse me." He saw the set of her face as she started to move away. Her behaviour irked him but not so much so that he was willing to lose this opportunity to talk to her. He put out his arm to prevent her from moving away.
JESS: "Why the cold shoulder?"
RORY: "No cold shoulder. I just have perishables here."
JESS: "Oh yeah, you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad."
RORY: "My mom's waiting for me." This time she did move away and he followed her, wanting, needing to hear her voice.
JESS: "How was Washington?"
RORY: "Fine."
JESS: "Do anything interesting?"
RORY: "Nope."
JESS: "Okay." So she apparently did not want to talk. This was something about which he expected her to have been excited. She did not seem enthused.
RORY: "What about you?" JESS: "What about me?" He smiled inwardly. She was concerned. And he had an idea what caused her interest.
RORY: "Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean." JESS: "Nope." He could be as uninformative as she.
RORY: "Really?"
JESS: "Really."
RORY: "So nothing happened this summer, at all?"
JESS: "It was hot. Two weeks ago there was a run on snowcones. Machine broke, people went crazy, Taylor tried to call in the National Guard, but -"
RORY: "I'm not talking about snowcones."
JESS: "What are you talking about then?" He knew perfectly well what she meant. He wondered if she would admit it.
RORY: "Nothing."
JESS: "Her name's Shane." He gave in.
RORY: "As in 'come back'?"
JESS: "Yup." Inwardly he was having a fit of laughter at her literary reference.
RORY: "Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great."
JESS: "So I've heard." A smirk hovered on his lips.
RORY: "Well, it is." She was suddenly so eloquent. He decided to confront it.
JESS: "Are you upset about something?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "I mean, me and Shane -"
RORY: "What about you and Shane?"
JESS: "I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face."
RORY: "Well, I'm still freaked out about the, uh, snowcone machine."
JESS: "Okay."
RORY: "I could care less about you and Shane."
JESS: "Good."
RORY: "It just surprised me, that's all."
JESS: "Why?" Ah, an opening. This would be interesting.
RORY: "Because."
JESS: "Because why?" Come on, Rory. Say it.
RORY: "Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding."
JESS: "Ah." A flicker of hope bloomed within him but he fought it, relegating it to a diminutive possibility deep, deep down.
RORY: "Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec."
She had really expected something different? After kissing him then abandoning him for weeks on end, she had TRULY expected something in a different vein? He was not a doting puppy.
JESS: "I'm sorry, did I hear from you at all this summer? Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me? You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything. . .very flattering, by the way. You go off to Washington. . . then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show."
RORY: "When did you see me with Dean?"
JESS: "At that stupid summer insanity plea the town put on."
RORY: "Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face."
JESS: "You didn't answer me." He had decided to ignore that one. He had a point to make.
RORY: "About what?" J
ESS: "Did you call me at all?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Did you send me a letter?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Postcard?"
RORY: "No."
JESS: "Smoke signal?"
RORY: "Stop."
JESS: "A nice fruit basket?"
RORY: "Enough!"
JESS: "Are you still with Dean? Come on, Rory, yes or no - are you still with Dean?"
RORY: "Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!"
And just as quickly that tiny flame in him perished. Construction began once again.
JESS: "Glad to hear it."
RORY: "Glad to tell you."
JESS: "See you around." He'd had enough.
RORY: "Whatever."
JESS: "Right back at ya." What WAS it that she wanted? To tease him, torment him? He was not to be played with.
A/N: Notice how both Luke and Jess say that same line "Right back at ya" intheir confrontation with a Gilmore? Must be in the blood.