Is There More?
Author: Knowhere
Chapter 6: Irony
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: Nothing except my own conjured characters.
AN: Thank you again for reading and for all your enthusiastic responses. Hopefully, it'll move along in a manner in which most of you have been waiting for.
Summary: AU. College life is a journey of ups and downs; are Rory and Jess ready to take on what life is about to throw at them including a prospect of a new relationship, or will they choose the path of friendship like they did years ago? Literati.
"Rory?"
The phone line is silent for a couple of seconds because I can't seem to find my voice. Gathering up the courage that is in the pit of my stomach, I manage to ask, "Yeah, I'm here. What's going on?"
"Rory, can I come over and see you tonight?"
"Sure. Why don't you come over at around eight?"
"Thanks; I'll see you then."
And that was the end of our conversation. After five fateful days, our entire conversation lasted in just under five sentences. Ironic, isn't it; a sentence for each day? Life is sure full of irony; a week ago I would have told you that I felt like I was on top of the world. I had an amazing family, a great best friend, a steady boyfriend, and the best academic life that I could ever wish for. Now, I'm sitting at the foot of my bed with the portable phone cradled in my hands with a potential break-up arriving in two hours. What else can I say but that life sucks?
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The next hour and a half seemed to crawl like a sloth to his destination. I'm sitting here on my couch in a simple tee-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Who am I going to try to impress anymore; might as well breakup in comfortable clothes. I see that I have twenty minutes left and I'm going through all the scenarios of my reaction in my head. Should I act surprised; or should I call him on his mistake? Is it even a mistake; maybe that was just a friend that was in the coffee shop with him? Chiding myself for jumping to conclusions I realize that my brain has worked up too many different reasons that I can't even find the logic in anything.
The intercom buzzes and I stalk the brief distance from the couch to the door to let him in. Opening the door I see the face that initially excited and challenged me; now all I see is the cause of self-doubt. "Hey Tyler."
"Rory, let's sit down. We need to talk." Wordlessly, we make our way to the couch and I look up as he gazes into my eyes. Smiling sadly, he asks, "Have you ever had that best friend where you felt like you couldn't live without?"
An image of Jess pops into my mind as I nod a quick 'yes.' He continues to talk and as he begins, he takes my hand gently into his. A couple of weeks ago, I longed for his touch and now it only seems to burn my skin. "When I graduated high school I had this best friend, her name was Kate. We shared similar interests and we could talk about anything and everything. We started dating junior year but in the back of our minds we were always dreading the day when we would have to part for college. Our relationship was intense, you know? It was like that kind of thing where you would feel that you couldn't survive the night until you heard their voice."
Tears are beginning to well up in my eyes but I demand that I take control over my emotions. I can already see where this conversation is going. I feel like I'm drowning and I can't catch my breath…
Continuing, he tightens his grasp on my hand and remarks, "The day that we graduated, I felt like a part of me left with her. She moved to Seattle and asked that I go with her, but I just couldn't give up on my dream college; but everyday that we've been apart, I regret my decision. Have you ever regretted something so bad that you would give anything to go back and undo it?"
That simple question strikes a chord in me, sometimes when I'm completely honest with myself I can admit that I feel that exact way about Jess. Sometimes I would give anything to confess that I had feelings for him way back when he asked; but I feared loosing my friend all those years ago and I pushed my feelings aside and I lied through my teeth and said that I only felt platonic feelings towards him.
Tyler mistakes my silence and resumes his explanation, "Well, if you've ever been in that kind of situation where you regret something so deeply, it's as if a knife is slowly cutting into your bone. It hurt me so much that I didn't think that I could open up to anyone else ever again; but then you came along. Geez Rory, being with you has been some of the best moments of my life. It's been really amazing; but the other day Kate called me and she told me that she's moving here and she wants to see if we can get back together. I told her that I would have to think about it."
I'm letting the words actually sink in and penetrate me. Ironically enough I'm not mad, I'm not upset, I'm just sad. How can I stand in his way of his happiness when he just expressed to me a couple of minutes ago that his soul mate wanted to start things up again? Am I that selfish that I'm going to get upset because things aren't flowing in my direction? No. I'm going to be happy for him that he found his perfect companion at such a young age. Sadly, I compose my words and I carefully tell him, "Tyler, these last several months have been amazing for me too; but I'm not going to stand in your way. I'm actually truly happy for you and I hope that it'll all work out for you."
Surprise is evident in his features as he informs me, "Wow; when I came up here tonight this was not what I was expecting from you. Thanks, I really do appreciate that you're making the decision to go back to Kate much easier. I feel much better knowing that you're not going to hate me for the rest of your life."
Smiling for the first time in several days, I methodically nod and stand up as we make our way towards the door. Turning around and giving me one last glance he says something that sticks to me, "Rory, I hope that you can discover the kind of love and friendship that I have with Kate; and when you do find it, don't let go of it. It's the most amazing feeling in the world and you never know; your love of your life might be in the next room."
Shutting the door behind him I stand there speechless. Was that a pointed statement that he left me with? Was there something else that I'm supposed to read in between the lines for? I feel extremely tired and worn out so I decide to call it quits. Going into my bedroom I climb under the covers and shut my eyes, content with how everything ended with Tyler. I know that I'll experience some more heart ache when I awake in the morning because a relationship with someone like Tyler isn't just something I can get over in one night; but I know that I'll be able to work things through with my chin held up high. I begin to nod off when I hear the front door being slowly opened. I can hear Jess's footsteps going into the next bedroom and as the pipes rattle a bit as the shower turns on, I listen to the comforting sound of rushing water as I drift into sleep.
AN: It finally happened; the explanation of the mysterious blonde in the coffee shop. Was it what you were expecting? The purpose of the break-up was not for it to be messy; I wanted to shake things up a little, and stray from the norm that Rory would have a cheating boyfriend. I wanted Rory to accept things as a mature adult and I also wanted to show the parallels between Tyler/Kate to Rory/Jess. Things will start progressing from here, so keep reading.
BTW: If you want a quick Lit fix, that's full of the sappiness that we all love…check out my other fic, 'A Future Foretold'. Drop me a line to tell me what you think about it. I'm sure that you won't be as aggravated as much with the lack of Rory/Jess in this chapter after you finish the mush in the Future Foretold trilogy.