Connecticut Writers

Chapter 2 – Maybe I was right at first

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I don't own any books (although I hope to write at least one in the future. lol). I also don't own any authors. Both the bookstore and the coffee place are made up, and I'm not associated in any way with Yale University.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated! First I was on spring break, then I didn't have access to this computer, then I had to figure out how I wanted this chapter to go. But I got an idea for it, so here it is! I really like the way this chapter turned out, so I hope you all do! I know there are several unanswered questions in it, but I promise they'll all eventually be answered in the story! Enjoy, and please review! THANK YOU to everyone who's reviewed; I'm glad you like this! I've pretty much planned out this story, but still, if you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them! ~Arianna

A few days passed, and I finished both books. The Sun Also Rises was one of Hemingway's few tolerable novels, to me. Bored with writing my paper and with my classes, though I usually found them interesting, I went back to the used bookstore.

"Back again," Melanie said to me.

"Of course." I grinned. I rarely go to a bookstore only once. I went back to the section I'd been in before and started looking through the books.

Once again, I noticed something moving, this time in the same row I was in. I walked to the left to see who was there, thinking maybe it was somebody from my class.

It wasn't. But it was someone I knew.

No, it's not. It can't be… He had the same dark hair, the same brown eyes, the same everything.

"Jess?" I said incredulously.

"Rory—"

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too."

It was definitely Jess. "How long have you been around here?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "A while."

I looked at the ground. "Did you know I was here? I told you I was going to Yale."

"I guessed…you might be here." He stopped. "I'm sorry I didn't write back."

"So you remembered."

"Rory."

"We were friends. I missed you."

"Do you want to get coffee or something? Talk?" (A/N: I didn't mean to take these lines from "That'll Do, Pig," it just worked here.)

"Okay," I said. "I can get coffee." We left together and started walking to a coffee place. Both of us were silent until we got there.

"So—let's sit down," I said.

"That would be good," Jess agreed.

"Yeah," I replied, uncomfortable. After finding that book…I'd had, in the back of my mind, the idea that Jess was, or at least had been, in New Haven. But that didn't change how strange it was to see him here. I still didn't know why he'd stopped contacting me, stopped writing me at all. And now he just showed up to stay here for a while?

There had to be a reason. I couldn't think of anything. Had he graduated from college? What was he doing with his life…did he have a girlfriend? Did that have something to do with why he'd stopped writing? I shook my head to stop the storm of questions. And I thought of another, one I was reluctant to admit to myself. Had he missed me? Jess had been my best friend. How could he just forget? After he stopped writing, I had stopped writing back. But I didn't stop occasionally wondering; I'd still kept all the pictures I had of us… Stop, I told myself sternly. He'll tell me. Wouldn't he?

A waiter came up to our table.

"Can I help you?"

"I'll have coffee." Jess glanced at me.

"Oh, me too. I'll have coffee."

"Right away." The waiter left quickly.

"Still addicted?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, that couldn't change…" I hadn't changed at all, had I? I didn't think so. I was still Rory Gilmore, book reader, Stars Hollow resident. Had Jess changed? Obviously, some things had. But I couldn't tell what…and now he was too good at hiding what he was feeling for me to know until he told me.

"What have you been doing?" I asked.

"Oh…various jobs. You know." I found that hard to believe. Jess was too talented a writer for that… "What about you?"

"Studying mostly," I answered. "And I, uh…" I couldn't tell him. "Some part time stuff, to pay for the apartment."

"Right." This was stuff my teacher might ask me. I wanted Jess to really tell me what was going on. "Have you read anything good recently?"

I was going to tell him about what I'd found at the bookstore, but I decided to wait. He could tell me himself. "Not really," I said. "I've been busy…"

"I read this great book the other day."

That got me interested.

"It was called Reading This Book," he told me. I could just stare at him. "I loved it. It's amazing, Ror."

"You really…"

"Yeah. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Come on."

"Come on what?"

"Well, I haven't heard from my best friend in more than two years. I've got to tell him about the book I wrote!"

"Rory—"

"Jess," I countered.

He changed the subject. "What happened to being an overseas correspondent?"

"I like it here," I said. "And the writing is great."

"Here, in New Haven?"

"No, here, in Connecticut. In Stars Hollow."

"I should have known."

"You haven't been back there since New York, have you?" I asked.

"No."

Why did you come here first? Why did you come here at all? "So did you graduate? Did you go to NYU? Community college?"

"No, I didn't."

"You didn't graduate—"

"I did."

"I—" I started to say.

"I went to Columbia."

I was shocked, but it was good. "Columbia! Wow, Jess, that's great! That's so great." If we weren't in a restaurant, despite being confused and angry and everything, I would have given him a hug.

He smiled back, sort of. "You're still studying? How many classes are you taking?"

"I'm working on a Ph.D. in English Literature," I explained.

"Must be interesting." So he was back to being monosyllabic Jess Mariano.

"It is." I really wanted to ask Jess if there was something he wasn't telling me. What if he was married? What if…

He said it first. "So…do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." I waited. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

Neither of us knew what to say after that. Then the waiter came back with our coffee.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks," I said. I took a drink. It was okay. Nothing to compare with… "Have you been talking to Luke at all?" I asked Jess.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but he looked like he wanted to avoid that subject.

"No, I haven't," he replied. "You're still talking to Lorelai, right?"

"Of course." He knew that. I knew he knew that. What was he hiding…? "Jess, what happened in New York?"

He shifted in his chair. "Nothing much. You know. Hard work, graduation, hung around for a while…"

"Look, we may not have talked for two years, but I know you well enough to know that something's wrong!" I burst out.

"Rory, nothing happened…"

"I think something did." I gave him my trademark stare, the one that used to keep him from teasing me, the one that used to convince him to let me borrow his books. I refused to look away.

I couldn't remember seeing Jess this uncomfortable around me. It shook me, but the look on his face only lasted for a second.

"Listen, Ror," he said. Ror. Jess was the only one who could ever call me that. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I knew you were going to Yale…but it's been surprising to see you, so suddenly…I missed you too…"

"Really." I was instantly sorry for that, and Jess knew it. He wasn't offended.

"It was really nothing big. But I'll tell you what happened and everything…I'll keep talking to you, okay? If you want me to."

"I do, Jess. I really do." I wrote down my phone number and handed it to him, still longing to know why he'd been in New Haven for "a while."

"Good," he replied. "I'm sorry…"

"Forget I," I said sincerely, smiling. "At least for now."

"That's Rory." He grinned slightly. "Here's my number."

"Thanks."

"See you around." He got up.

"How long will you be here, anyway?" Come on, please tell me

"A while," Jess answered.

"Okay…see ya, Jess."

"Bye, Rory." He left. I watched him go, finished my coffee, and left too. I was about to pay for it when I realized that Jess already had.

I was glad to see my best friend again. But I still couldn't help wondering what happened to telling each other everything. I knew something had happened back in New York. I wanted to know what. I wanted to know why he'd stopped writing to me. I wanted to know why he was here, in Connecticut, now. I wanted to know…when he'd read my book.