Title: This Feeling That Remains.

Summary: In the aftermath of the car accident, the Gilmore Girls try to pick up the pieces and move on.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Gilmore Girls. This story idea is my own, although it does contain some scenes from the actual show in places. (mainly at the beginning)

Authors Note: This fic starts during the episode Teach Me Tonight, right after Lorelai leaves Rory at the hospital to go and find Jess. It's a Java/Lit fic.

Thanks to Tye's evil twin, Rye. And also Starrychick90, blackrose, JCtigerwolf4e and Jayde for reviewing so much.

*~*~*~*

Paris was talking. Rory was sure it was important, or at least informative. When Paris talked it was usually one or the other. Or Both. And always longwinded.

"I mean she was welling up at the end, but she had the decency to hold it in until I was gone. I have enough faculty recommendations to run for Student Council, so I don't need her anyway."

Rory had completely tuned out at this point and, as Paris continued walking, Rory came to a gradual halt.

"My lockers this way." Said Paris, not even looking to see if Rory was still following.

If she'd been a cartoon, Rory imagined that a little devil would have appeared on her shoulder at that moment.

'Go! Get on the bus! Go see him!' It said persuasively.

Then a little angel would have appeared on her other shoulder, clad in a Chilton uniform, shining its halo.

'Don't be an idiot! She has school.'

'Shut up!'

'You shut up.'

'Jess.'

'School.'

'Jess!'

'School!'

'Jess!!'

The angel looked conflicted and then shrugged.

'Ok, I see your point.'

'Of course you do. I'm right.'

'I agree. Go see Jess, Rory!'

Before the angel could change it's mind and try and talk her out of it, Rory hurried towards the gates of Chilton and out onto the streets of Hartford.

What happened over the course of the next few hours was lost on Rory. She felt like she was in an episode of the X-Files. One minute she was stood in the Chilton courtyard, and the next she was stepping off of a bus in New York. She checked her watch to see how much time she'd lost, waiting for Mulder and Scully to hurry past her talking about aliens and 'signs'.

Mulder and Scully failed to appear, so she assumed nothing supernatural had occurred, even if she felt like she was in a whole other universe. She was alternate universe Rory, doing things that normal Rory wouldn't even consider doing.

It happened again. She lost more time between the bus station and Washington Square Park. She felt as if she was floating towards him, being propelled from the sidewalk to where he was sitting. She wasn't moving. She was almost sure she wasn't. Something was pulling her over there, like a paperclip to a magnet.

"Hi." She said, a small smile playing on her lips, wondering how he'd react.

Jess looked up from his book but didn't turn around. Part of him knew it was her. But another part of him was convinced something was playing a trick on him, and he would turn around to find she wasn't really standing there.

After a very brief internal conflict, he decided that he had nothing to lose by turning around to look. Maybe his sanity, but he didn't feel he had a firm grasp on that anyway.

He smiled up at her.

"How're you doing?"

"Good." She nodded. "How about you?"

"Good."

They smiled more at each other. The awkwardness of their phone call the previous evening was gone.

"You hungry?"

"Starved!" She admitted.

"I know a place." He said casually, getting up from the bench he was sat on.

The walked back towards the street together in silence, enjoying the lack of distance between them.

* * * * *


Lorelai felt like she was having an outer body experience. There she was looking through gowns to find one without wrinkles or mysterious stains and she could have sworn she saw Emily walk past.

But it couldn't have been Emily. Emily didn't know about the graduation ceremony, and Emily wouldn't be seen dead at a community college without a good reason. Like a graduation ceremony.

Curiosity got the better of her and she headed in the direction she'd seen Emily's long lost twin going.

When she walked into the main hall to find Emily scolding a man she didn't know, she thought she might pass out.

"Mom…?"

"Lorelai! It's hours before the ceremony, what are you doing here?!" Emily asked in shock.

"Um… I'm just… getting… uh…" Lorelai stammered for a moment and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" She asked finally. "How do you even know about this?"

"I shouldn't know about this? A mother can't know about this?"

"No, I just mean - "

"You're graduating."

"I know." Lorelai replied.

"So, we're here to see you graduate! This is Raul." Emily said, gesturing to the man setting up camera equipment.

"Hey." She waved to him. "So, you and Raul are just here to see me graduate?"

Before Emily could respond they were interrupted.

"Lorelai?"

Lorelai turned around and again felt like she was going to pass out.

"Luke?! Wha- What's going on?" She frowned.

"You're graduating."

"So I've been told." Lorelai sighed, still feeling overwhelmed.

"So, I'm here to see you graduate."

"Really? Do you have a friend called Raul, too?"

"Huh?" Luke looked at Emily to see if she was as lost as he was.

"You're early." Lorelai sighed.

"Do you want me to come back later?" He offered.

Lorelai looked from Luke to Raul, to Emily.

"Nope. Definitely not!" She said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards the corridor. "See you later mom." She called over her shoulder.

"Don't worry about a thing, Lorelai. Raul came highly recommended." Emily assured her.

Lorelai forced a smile, nodded and kept walking, pulling Luke along behind her.

* * * * *


Rory and Jess said their goodbyes at the bus station. They spoke casually, but tension hung in the air around them. She felt the need to explain herself after telling him she needed to go. An explanation wasn't required but it gave them an extra 10 seconds or so together, and provided a jumping point for a short-lived addition to their conversation.

As she stepped onto the bus and searched for a seat, Jess walked along the outside. He said something she couldn't hear from inside the bus, so she pushed open a window.

"What?"

"I said, why did you come here?" He repeated.

"Well…"

"I mean, you ditched school and everything. That's so not you. Why'd you do it?" He frowned up at her.

Rory had hoped to escape without having to answer that. She didn't even really know why she was there. There were bits of reasons floating through her mind, but nothing specific. She grasped at one.

"Because… you didn't say goodbye."

"Oh." He nodded. He seemed to accept it with a mix of understanding but also disappointment. "Goodbye, Rory." He smiled sadly.

"Bye." She said timidly, a lot quieter than she'd meant to.

They shared a final smile and glance before he turned and headed for the exit. She followed him with her eyes until the crowd and the bus blocked him from her view.

She pulled the window closed and settled down into her seat. She pulled a book out of her bag and opened it, but her concentration was erratic and she couldn't make any sense of what she was reading.

When she looked up, a couple across the aisle from her was kissing quite passionately. She looked away quickly, feeling like she was invading their privacy even though they were in a public place.

She looked out of the window and saw another couple kissing each other goodbye, seemingly unable to tear them selves apart.

As Rory walked quickly down the sidewalk, weaving her way through the crowded street, she tried to figure out the exact moment she'd lost control of her own body.

She remembered watching the couples kissing. That's when she'd felt some kind of itch. But it was some kind of internal, emotional itch, and she couldn't just scratch it to get rid of it.

She'd gotten up and walked to the front of the bus, looking back and forth between the door and her seat. Then she'd seen the couple outside the bus kissing again.
She had asked the driver when they'd be leaving and he'd told her they were delayed because of an accident.

She thought that was it. Like the delay was a sign. She'd been given a second chance.

She quickened her pace from a walk to a run, back tracking from the bus terminal to Washington Square Park.

She didn't have to go far. After only a few blocks she saw him in the crowd and her heart skipped a beat. He seemed to be walking at a reasonable pace, his jacket slung over his shoulder. It made her realize that the eternity she'd spent sitting on the bus after their goodbye had only been a few minutes.

She grabbed his arm and he turned around, surprised to see her. As a smile started to play on his lips, she covered them with her own. Reaching up, she pushed his hand away from his shoulder, wanting him to forget whatever it was he was holding, and hold her instead.

After a very brief moment of astonishment, Jess responded to both the kiss and her touch against his hand, letting his arm drop. His jacket fell from his grasp and landed on the sidewalk as he put his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Rory savored the kiss, aware that she'd never felt anything so intense in her almost 2 year relationship with Dean. And knowing she wouldn't again for however long it took her to find a guy who filled her with as much passion as Jess did. If there was a guy out there who could.

She pulled back, and he held her lightly at the elbows, staring at her in bewilderment.

"Goodbye, Jess." She said, with finality in her tone, offering him the same sad smile he'd given her before and slipping Candide into his hand.

She turned and ran back towards the bus station, leaving him stood on the sidewalk, lost in the crowd, wondering if he was even awake.

A/N: That was their kiss from A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving (maybe a little more passionate). I liked it so much I just had to use it. I just replaced Jess's trash bag with a jacket. lol