Merci beaucoup: farah k, markie, Emmy, hasapi, Too lazy to sign in, Jade, swim6516, allcanadiangal (ohhhh mi god! Girl, you have just given me praise that I know I'm not worthy of), kahadijah, hannah, Heather, Liesel, shebs, anonymousthinker, Juliette, kajana, becs, Tiffany (I'll try to add more descriptions for you, chica), Seehoo (thanx a lot), Mysticgrl, meeeee!! (i'm sorry about her salary, u shulda told me sooner... huh, that just makes it more obvious that i'm not from the US), fara, and 4 nameless reviewers!

Oh yeah, I'm just going to rave and rant about some reviewer who said that Jess sounded gay in this fic because he takes a girl shopping, cooks, and does her hair. I'm sorry if that's what you thought, but I knows lots of guys who are capable of doing some girl's hair, take her shopping and cook! So, I'm not sure what century you live in, but guys do that nowadays! And i'm sorry I sound so bitchy now, it's just the way I react when people diss Jess...

~ This is a filler chapter! ~

I'm 15, will turn 16 on February 4th! =)

It's impossible
It's impossible to love you
If you don't let me know what you're feeling
It's impossible for me to give you what you need
If you're always hidin' from me

~ Impossible - Christina Aguilera feat Alicia Keys

Chapter 5: Unresolved sexual tension

Rory looked at the book in her head. She groaned to herself. Now look what you've done. You outright said that you don't think he could have earned money in an honest way. He's an author. He always wanted to be an author, didn't he? 'About a Girl by Dodger M.' Dodger? You used to call him Dodger, didn't you? He remembered you. You thought he'd forgotten about the small town girl whose life he waltzed into. That was why you tried to forget him as well. She opened the book, and stared at the first page.

"Some people think I'm the biggest jerk they're likely to see in their lifetime. Not this girl. In a small town, far away from the chaotic noise of New York City, she was like a breath of fresh air"

Rory closed the book in shock. Jess wrote a book about me? She shut her eyes. No way, it must be about some other girl. Name another girl that lives in a small town that Jess has met. Can't think of one? Maybe because it is you. Rory grabbed the book, and made her way noisily into the guest bedroom that was temporarily meant to be her home. She sat down heavily on the armchair.

She opened the book again, and made her way through the first page the first chapter the first page of the last chapter and finally she finished it.

"Where's the happy ending, you're thinking? I don't know, since only fairy tales have one. You hope that this isn't a true story, and that I've made it up. I guess you'll never know for sure."

Jess had bared his soul in a book, for everyone to see. I was only too blind; too preoccupied in my own world to see that I was the sun of somebody else's. You were too scared to tell him that you loved him, it's too late now isn't it?

She stared at the wall. Just on the other side of the wall is the person who's given up everything for you, girl. And what do you do? Throw it right back to his face. Even though you were going out with Dean, you had him 24 hours on your brain. How are you going to say you're sorry? How are you going to say that you never did forget him? Are you even brave enough to do so?

Rory clutched her head, willing her conscience to go away. It didn't work. She laid down on the bed, and fell into a fitful sleep.

~***~

The next morning

Rory glanced at the clock. 6.40 a.m. I'm going to be late for work on my first day. That won't create a good impression, would it?

She hurriedly took a shower and dressed in suitable clothes for her first day at work. Then, she walked out into the living room. She looked around. Jess was sitting on the dining table, eating breakfast. He glanced up at her, then looked down again.

Rory frowned to herself. You have to tell him how you feel. Everyone probably already knows, apart from him. "Hi Jess."

Jess glanced at Rory. "Hey," he muttered.

"Listen, Jess, about yesterday ---"

Jess stood up from his chair, and cut her off. "I got to go. We can talk later."

Rory was left standing there, her mouth hung open, staring at the half-eaten bowl of cereal he had left behind. You hurt him bad last night, girl. He ain't going to forgive you for it anytime soon.

Rory sighed, and left for work.

"Hey Rory," smiled the manager.

Rory smiled back uneasily. "Hi Robert."

"We have an exclusive for you, if you're up to it. Everyone else wants this task, but since you're new, we've decided to give it to you. We need to know if you can handle challenges. This is the perfect way to test that."

"Of course I'm up to it!" said Rory. Yes! Something to keep your mind off Jess Mariano.

Robert nodded. "That's what I thought you'd say. There's someone who hasn't been interviewed in his life, and we want you to try to. If you manage to do so, it will be the headline of every major newspaper in the world, and you will catapult into the limelight as a star-studded reporter."

Rory grinned, but she felt uneasy. There's something wrong with this picture. "Great! Who is it?"

"The one and only Dodger M," said Robert.

Rory's mouth fell open, but Robert mistook it as something else. He smiled at her.

"I know, aren't his books great? Seriously, that book 'About a Girl' haunted me for weeks! The thing is, he managed to capture our attention, and he didn't even name that girl. I would do anything to find out the identity of that girl." He paused for a second. "I think you should try to do so! That would just be fabulous."

Rory couldn't breathe. She felt like she was hyperventilating. How could this happen to you? "Okay."

Robert smiled. "We've managed to compile a fact file about him, but because there isn't anything much that we know about him, the rest is up to you."

He left her office. Rory slumped down on her chair, and put her head into her hands. What a wonderful start to your career.

She opened the file and looked at the only piece of paper in it.

Full name: Jess Anthony Mariano

Age: 23

Birth of date: July 8

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown

Likes: Unknown

Address: Unknown

That was all there was. Even I know more about him than this stupid fact file. How am I going to interview Jess? He won't even talk to me for a second. You better make it up to him, so that he forgives you. Which will make this whole interview thing go smoothly.

~***~

Rory came home early that day from work, and decided that she should try and cook dinner. She opened the recipe book that she found on the bookshelf, intent on making spaghetti bolognaise.

This looks easy, just a little bit of meat, and tomatoes, and boil the spaghetti noodles and voila! Rory stirred the ingredients together, and went to wash her hands. She heard the door creak open. That must be Jess. He walked into the kitchen, and stared at the sight in front of him.

Rory was clad in apron, chef hat, and she was stirring something in a pot. He smiled, even though he tried hard not to. The image was just so perfect.

He had gone for a walk in the park, to clear his head. He thought about everything that happened since Rory had waltzed back into his life, and he decided that it wasn't her fault that she thought he was earning money illegally. After all, the last time she'd seen him, he was a broke teenager dressed in Metallica shirts. Now, he's a rich adult with nice manners and money to spare. Who wouldn't wonder what happened? He cleared his throat.

"What are you doing, Rory?" he asked.

Rory turned around and smiled at him. "Hey Jess. I'm cooking."

Jess nodded. You should help her, Mariano. If her cooking skills are the same as Lorelai's, the whole building might burn down.

He put on the remaining apron, and set about helping her cut up the vegetables.

~***~

They sat on the table, across from each other. Rory stared at the man in front of her, registering that he really had changed so much.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She thought Jess didn't hear it because he didn't react. Or maybe because he still hasn't forgiven you.

After dinner, Jess helped to wash the dishes, whilst Rory dried them.

"It's okay," said Jess, out of the blue. He couldn't stand all the tension in between them. They usually got along so well together and he couldn't bear to lose her friendship. There was so much UST - (A/N: unresolved sexual tension heheheh).

Rory looked up into Jess's eyes. They continued staring at each other, blue eyes on brown ones. Rory licked her lips unconsciously, and Jess's eyes were drawn to that simple movement that had a lot of hidden meanings. He leaned close, and kissed her.

At first, Rory didn't respond. Her mind was screaming. This is Jess! He's kissing you! Wow! Then, when it all kicked in, she placed her arms around his neck, and kissed back. He maneuvered his tongue, prying her lips apart gently.

A few minutes later, Rory broke apart from him, breathing heavily. There was only one word she could muster. "Wow."

To be continued REVIEW PLEASE!