(A/N) Here's ch.3. I hope you like this story. I am getting into it.
These chapters are also longer than the chapters of my other fics so be
grateful!! Lol
****************************************** Last time:
"Well. that's nice of you but I do feel kind of weird about it."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you feel weird."
"No its not you, I just have this thing about like NOT wanting to be seen naked." She said, her face reddening more every second. "Lets eat. That looks really good."
"OK. You want something to drink?" Jess asked her.
"Got any."
"Coffee it is." Rory smiled. He knew her too well. So they ate in near silence, Rory pausing only to look at Jess. She was glad she had come even if it was a little weird. ******************************************
Chapter 3: Meeting Jimmy and Skinny Dipping.
Jess and Rory were walking along the boardwalk. They talked about the things that had been going on with each other lately. There were still a lot of topics that needed to be covered but neither wanted to start a big conversation yet since they were currently on their way to see Jimmy.
"Rory, you didn't tell me you were valedictorian! That's awesome." Jess said, squeezing her hand. "Did anyone take pictures?"
"Yes! Oh it's a funny story! Sookie kept getting up and coming up to the front row during the ceremony! All the people sitting around her were so mad! But she took somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 pictures that night." She smiled.
"I figured your mom would have been the one doing that." Jess said.
"Oh no we did something else. While I was up getting my diploma we kept making these crazy faces. My grandparents went wild! Mom said they kept pestering her about it."
"What do you mean crazy faces?" Jess asked. Rory quickly demonstrated before blushing and looking forward. "Oh, that kind of crazy face." They laughed.
"Did I tell you they bought me a CAR!?" Rory practically yelled.
"A car? Wow that's a pretty nice present." Jess said.
"Yea it is. But I guess I will need one. getting to and from school."
"Yea. You sure will." Jess said, trying to stay upbeat. Rory noticed his sudden mood change. She didn't know exactly what to say. But what came out was,
"You know, you could always go back and take whatever courses you need. I could help you too." Jess wasn't smiling anymore.
"That's OK Rory. I don't think I'm going back to school though."
"Jess. if. oh never mind." Rory said, cutting herself off. She didn't particularly getting into this right now. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. I just don't like to talk about it because some of the questions you were probably going to ask me, I don't have answers for."
Rory stopped them both. She turned so they were facing one another. "You don't have to be afraid to talk to me. I'm not going to judge you. I just want to help."
"Rory, maybe there's some things you cant help me with."
"Well even if I can't help, I think you should at least tell me what's going on. That's what you do in relationships Jess." Rory said, trying to keep her temper. This was how he messed up last time. By insisting to keep everything to himself.
"I know. It's just hard for me Rory. You're the first person in my life that has ever had any interest in really helping me. I'm just so used to keeping things to myself and working them out alone."
"I don't think that's true Jess. I think maybe I'm just the first person who you want to help you. Maybe. other people have tried to help you. Maybe you blocked them out."
Jess looked into Rory's eyes. "Maybe you're right." He nodded and Rory could tell he was hurting. "Maybe my life has gone the way it has because I never really loved anyone else before you."
Rory could feel her eyes stinging and right there on the street she leaned towards Jess and shared a kiss filled with 2 weeks of longing, missing, and pain. This kiss was special. They could both feel the heat of each other's body, the passion that filled the other. This was the first time that Rory didn't want to break away sooner; she wanted it to keep going. She didn't care they were being watched by dozens of passerby's and were out in the open. She had never has a kiss quite like this. But Rory didn't have a choice but to break apart because right as the kiss began to deepen, her cell phone rang. She let out a small groan and pulled back from Jess. The moment was gone.
"Hello?" Rory asked, very annoyed at whoever had decided to call her at this very second.
"Rory, its me."
"Hi mom. What's going on?"
"Nothing sweetie. You just didn't call me last night so I was worried. Where are you?" Lorelai said.
"Sorry. Yea everything is OK. Jess and I are on the boardwalk right now."
"So you found him?" Lorelai asked, obviously worried.
"Yea, last night." Rory answered.
"Did you stay at his house?" Lorelai asked, sounding if possible more worried than she had before.
"Yea, I slept on an extra mattress. Mom. everything is OK." Rory emphasized the word everything, hoping her mother would catch on.
"So you didn't. do anything?"
"Mom. No. I would tell you." Rory insisted,
"OK well then I'm gonna let you go. Be a GOOD girl." Lorelai teased.
"Shut up mom! OK, bye, love you!"
"Love you too." Lorelai said as she hung up. Rory put her phone away, laughing.
Jess gave her a quizzical look and she just said, "She's too paranoid."
******************************************
"Jess? Is it OK with your dad that I stayed here? Because if it's not then I have enough for a hotel." Rory asked nervously.
"Ror, it was fine. He's pretty laid back. Just don't worry about it." Jess smiled at her and her worries lessened a little.
"OK."
Their hands had been linked since they left the house and had only become separated when Rory had to answer the phone. It was something they had missed so they were not willing to give up their hand holding just yet. But as they neared the little beach shack that held Jimmy's office, Rory could feel her anxiety creeping up. Her hands started to get sweaty. Jess tried to calm her but it wasn't helping much. Finally Jess said,
"Rory. Chill. It's my dad. And all you have to do is say 'Hello, I'm Rory, nice to meet you.' Really now, what's the matter?" Rory didn't reply for a few moments but finally decided there was no point hiding it.
"Jess, he comes home last night and sees your girlfriend asleep on a mattress. How is that supposed to look?" Jess just laughed at this comment.
"I explained to him that you were tired, thus the sleeping. And he already knew about you, I've talked about you. So he basically knows what kind of person you are."
"What kind of person am I?" Rory asked with a mischievous grin.
"The smart kind." Rory's expression changed and she began to nod her head, thinking over every possible meaning of what Jess just said. She knew he meant it in a good way, but to any other person it could sound like an insult. After several minutes of silence, Rory decided she was over thinking the issue and just let it go. Jess noticed that Rory's eyes had unclouded and figured he should probably warn her that they were only about one hundred yards away from meeting Jimmy.
"Rory? We're almost there."
"Oh." She said.
"Don't sound so excited, he might be frightened away by your cheerfulness." Jess said, in his ever-present sarcastic tone. Just then, a man stepped out of hot-dog stand and gave Jess a half wave. Jess waved back and had to drag Rory along until they were face to face with Jess' father.
"Jimmy, this is my girlfriend, Rory." Jess said as he gave Rory a little shove so she was standing on an even plane with him.
"Rory, nice to meet you." Jimmy said as reaching out to shake her hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm sorry about just... showing up last night but I-"
"It's not problem, don't worry about it. I'm just glad I get to meet you finally." Jimmy interrupted her.
"So Jimmy, you want us to hang around for a while so you can show Rory around, or should we come back later?" Jess asked, seeing Rory fidget wasn't exactly his favorite sight.
"You guys come in real quick, its only 11:30 so the lunch crowd won't be here for a bit." Jimmy lead them through the door and into his one room hot-dog stand. "This was originally built in the 50's you know Rory."
"Oh really? That's interesting." Rory said, trying her best to sound perky.
"But, uh... this is about it. You got the kitchen over here, well its not exactly a kitchen we just a have a grill and little condiment bar, but I guess it qualifies. I'm not really a kitchen expert or anything but-"
"I would say it qualifies." Rory said. She was finally warming up to Jimmy and Jess was glad that she didn't feel TOO uncomfortable around him. So as Jimmy lead Rory around the small room Jess stood by the door. Just as Jimmy was going into his pickle jar speech, a customer came up and Jess escorted Rory out.
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Jess asked her. She smiled and leaned closer to him.
"The way Luke talked about him I thought he was going to be some kind of ex-convict running from the law while still managing to mess up everything in his path." Rory joked. "But really he seemed like a big kid. He was very excited about those pickles..." Rory continued.
"Yea, I've had to sit through the pickle story about nine times." Jess said.
"Aw, you poor baby."
"Maybe you could kiss it and make it better?" Jess added in a baby voice.
"Maybe I could." Rory said. She leaned forward and just as their lips were about to touch... "Or maybe I couldn't." She continued walking. Once she was about five feet ahead of him Jess too started to walk. He caught up to her and grabbed her hand once more.
"You're gonna pay for that. You owe me big now." He said.
"And what are you going to do about it mister?" Rory asked.
"I'm going to give you your graduation present and then you'll feel so guilty that you'll repay me on your own." Jess said.
"You got me a present?" Rory asked.
"Maybe I did..."
"What is it?"
"And why would I tell you that?" Jess asked.
"Because you looooove me. And because it's my present anyway and I'm going to know what it is as soon as you give it to me so why not just tell me now?" Rory added very matter-of-factly.
"Well you got the first part right. I do 'looooove' you. But the second part, you are all wrong there. If I told you what it was, then how does it make it a present? It's supposed to be a surprise!"
"What if I just repay what I owe you now?" She asked coyly.
"OK." Jess said. They kissed quickly. Jess shook his head. "I'm still not telling you."
"Jess... please?"
"Nope."
"Fine." Rory said, trying her hardest to frown. She wasn't doing a very good job seeing how Jess was staring at her and had a crazy grin on his face. She looked over at him and smiled shyly. "Pleeeease?"
"No." Jess unlocked their hands and draped his arm over her shoulder. As he lead her back to the house, he couldn't help but get excited about what he was going to do tonight.
******************************************
Rory was in the bathroom getting ready. Jess had only given her a few instructions on how to dress. Comfortable but not casual. As if that was possible. Rory couldn't for the life of her figure out what Jess was planning. She decided if it couldn't be casual, then it must be someplace fancy. The comfortable part... that could either mean they were doing something else or that he just loved her so much to tell her she should be comfortable. 'Screw that. I'm going all out.' Rory thought. She dressed in a short blue dress, sandals, and let her hair hang down. She put on some eyeliner, which she didn't normally do. Her blue eyes popped out and matched the color of her dress exactly.
She was finally pleased with her appearance and was ready to present herself to Jess. She walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room. Jess was sitting on the couch dressed in slacks and a black polo shirt. It wasn't his style, but he wanted to look nice. She snuck up behind him and put her hands over his eyes.
"Guess who." She said.
"Rory, will you let go of my eyes so I can see you?" Jess asked playfully.
"No. You wont tell me the plan so why should I let you see?"
"Rory, I know it seems like you want to know. But really, you don't. You would be severely disappointed if you knew in advance."
"Oh great. We're going to a sports bar aren't we?" Rory said sarcastically.
"Damn, you guessed. Oh well, guess we wont go now that you know."
"Jess!" Rory scolded him playfully.
"If you uncover my eyes we can go. And there is no way I'm telling you the plan so don't even try." Rory took her hands away and Jess turned around. She walked around the couch and stood in front of him. He didn't say anything, he just stared. Rory took his silence for a negative response. She went to her bag and said,
"I'll just change. I didn't know what to wear." Jess ran after her and grabbed her arm.
"Drop the bag." He was smiling now. Rory placed her bag on the floor. "Now step away. This way." He pulled Rory by the hand down the hall and towards the front door. "Are you ready?" Jess asked as he pulled open the door.
"Yea, I'm ready. Are you sure I look OK? I can still go change." Rory said, surveying herself, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"You look unbelievably gorgeous."
"Well that's always good to hear." Rory said.
******************************************
Jess and Rory idled along the boardwalk, hands intertwined as usual. The moon was out in its full glory and cast an iridescent light upon the pair. There was no use for conversation, the night was too beautiful. Each was consumed in their own thoughts. Jess looked over at Rory several times during their little walk, her face was bathed in moonlight and she looked so perfect. He stopped walking. She turned to see why he had stopped. She was about to speak but he placed a finger over his mouth.
They stared into each others eyes as the waves crashed against the shore. Jess inched his face forward and cupped her cheek in his hand. Finally their lips touched and they moved into an embrace. Jess' hand moved to the small of her back and Rory ran one hand through Jess' hair. They finally separated and didn't even have to say anything. They could have stood their professing their love, telling each other they would never leave each other, but right now, nothing was for sure. They were in a crazy place, between reality and fantasy. Although they loved each other, they didn't know if it would be enough to get them through the trials that were most certainly ahead.
******************************************
Rory and Jess were sitting in a booth at a semi-fancy restaurant, ordering desert. Rory was concentrating on the menu, it all sounded so good. Chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, ice cream, and then she saw it. The coffee addicts cake. Made with coffee beans, chocolate, and some cream. Topped with coffee ice cream and chocolate syrup. What more could she possibly ask for? So the waiter came and Jess ordered chocolate cake and Rory ordered of course, The Coffee Addicts cake.
"I figured you would order that. It sounds pretty good. Maybe we could share a little..." Jess said.
"Yea right. I'm eating the whole thing. You might be able to have my crumbs." Rory said sarcastically.
"Come on now Rory..." He pleaded, making his best puppy-dog face.
"AH! Don't do the face. No no no no no." Rory said as she covered her face with her napkin. Jess got up and walked around to sit next to her. He pulled the napkin from her face and kissed her quickly.
"Maybe we could just do that every time you take a bite..." They both smiled. When the waiter arrived a few minutes later, they did just that. Rory would take a small bite and Jess would kiss her. (A/N no tongue here ok ppl... he would get like food particles and crap in his mouth eww. No hes just getting the taste from her lips capiche?) They finally finished her cake and Jess hadnt even touched his. He was having too good of a time to worry about it. So they got a box for the cake.
"Maybe we can eat that later tonite..." Rory hinted suggestively as they walked out of the restaurant. Jess raised his eyebrows at her, saying
"Are you trying to seduce me Miss Gilmore?" She laughed.
"Who knows... maybe I am." And with that they walked back to Jimmy and Sasha's house.
******************************************
They reached the gate to go in about 5 minutes later, everything was close by around here. Jess was about to open the door when Rory stopped him.
"Rory... to go into the house it requires that I open the door."
"Lets not go in yet. Lets do something crazy."
"Crazy like skinny dipping in the ocean or crazy like go to the movies?" Jess asked.
"Really crazy. Leave the cake, we're going to the beach." Rory had a wild look in her eyes.
"You're joking right? You actually want to go skinny dipping in the ocean? I thought you had this 'thing about being seen naked by people'" Rory laughed.
"Dont sound so surprised. But no. We won't be completely 'skinny'" She said. Jess put the cake down on the front porch and they headed toward the beach. Jess was eyeing Rory. Was she testing him? Was she serious? Why on earth did she want to go swimming at 11 o'clock at night?
"So Rory... what brings on this sudden... spontanaity?"
"I don't really know. But it just feels like... everything is so right. Nothing could change the way I'm feeling right now. I'm just taking advantage of it. Lets just have fun."
"Alright then. Race you?" He asked.
Rory took off running. "Sure!" she called out to a now running Jess. Rory beat him to the beach, but only by a few feet. They stopped dead and Rory threw off her shoes. "Come on. Strip!" She shouted. Jess removed his shirt and threw it to the ground. There were clothes flying everywhere, each trying to get undressed first. Rory won of course because she only had to take off one item, her dress. She she was already almost to the water when Jess finally sported only his boxers. They splashed into the water. Rory dove under and came up about 10 feet away, whipping her hair back. Jess swam out to her. They were about 25 feet from shore, they couldn't touch the bottom so they just treaded water and splashed each other.
"This is fun. We should do it more often." Rory said thoughtfully.
"No arguments here." Jess said. Rory swam slowly over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck when she finally reached him. She acted as though she was going to kiss him and just as their lips were about to touch, she dunked him underwater and swam away quickly. She knew Jess would retaliate. He sputtered to the surface again yelling "I am so gonna get you Rory."
Rory was having trouble staying above water because she was laughing so hard. Jess' eyes were wide when he came up and she had obviously surprised him. He was swimming fast towards her, but Rory didn't want to be caught. She swam to the shore and began to run down the beach. Big mistake. Jess runs pretty dang fast. He caught up with her in mere seconds and tackled her to the ground. They were both laughing hysterically. They finally stopped and they both realized they were in a compromising position.
Jess was lying directly on top of Rory with his hands around her. Jess inched his face closer, pulling his hand to her stomach... Thats about the time that the beach patrol found them. Apparently they didn't take kindly to crurfew breaking and demanded that they escort the teenagers home. Sure they were 18, but the officer just didn't seem to want them on the beach. So they went home, the officer following them the whole way.
When they finally arrived, they went inside and sat in the kitchen. They were still wet from their beach endeavor. They sat in an uncomfortable silence. Finally Jess broke it.
"I'm sorry." He said, avoiding her eyes.
"For what? It wasn't your fault. God it was my fault. I was the one who wanted to do something crazy." Rory said sheepishly.
"Yea, but I took advantage of it. I shouldn't have done that."
"Jess you didn't do anything by yourself. It was mutual. We both wanted it." Rory said.
"Rory, can I be straight with you?" Jess asked after a moment.
"Yea." Their eyes locked.
"Rory... I need to know how you feel about..."
"I don't know what I want." She finished for him.
"Because sometimes, I don't know how far to let myself go. And when I think its mutual... it's not. You'll stop. And thats fine. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to pressure you into doing something you don't want to but... you never give me any indication..."
"Jess?" He looked up from the spot he had picked to stare at on the floor.
"Yea?"
"I think I need to go home."
"What!? Why?" He asked, taken aback by her sudden change of heart.
"And so do you. We're in a foreign place. We both belong back in Stars Hollow."
"Rory, I can't go back there."
"Yes you can." She said sincerely.
"Rory, I... I just can't."
"Why!? Because you're scared? Well heres a bit of a news flash for you. Life's scary." She yelled. "But if you want something bad enough, you just have to take the plunge. You have no reason why you can't go back. But if I'm not enough for you to take that plunge... then I have to go back without you."
"Rory, you can't leave me." Jess pleaded.
Rory had tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to leave you. But I will if I have to. I have to know what you're in this for. I have to know if you love me enough."
"I do love you Rory." Jess said, obviously upset.
"Then we are going home tomorrow. Pack your stuff up. I'm leaving here tomorow at 8. Goodnight. And if you aren't coming with me... Then I guess this is goodbye." She said sadly before turning to go to bed.
****************************************** (A/N) So ends the long awaited chapter 3. Sorry it took so long, I just had trouble writing the last part. So is there really trouble in paradise? or will they live happily ever after? I'm wrapping this up in the next 2 chapters so please review and tell me what you think! much love to my sisters kelly and vicky! MuAh! and thanks SO much to my reviewers!! Until next chapter... *AmSam Malfoy. PS- My birthday is this friday! (aug.8!) :-D
****************************************** Last time:
"Well. that's nice of you but I do feel kind of weird about it."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you feel weird."
"No its not you, I just have this thing about like NOT wanting to be seen naked." She said, her face reddening more every second. "Lets eat. That looks really good."
"OK. You want something to drink?" Jess asked her.
"Got any."
"Coffee it is." Rory smiled. He knew her too well. So they ate in near silence, Rory pausing only to look at Jess. She was glad she had come even if it was a little weird. ******************************************
Chapter 3: Meeting Jimmy and Skinny Dipping.
Jess and Rory were walking along the boardwalk. They talked about the things that had been going on with each other lately. There were still a lot of topics that needed to be covered but neither wanted to start a big conversation yet since they were currently on their way to see Jimmy.
"Rory, you didn't tell me you were valedictorian! That's awesome." Jess said, squeezing her hand. "Did anyone take pictures?"
"Yes! Oh it's a funny story! Sookie kept getting up and coming up to the front row during the ceremony! All the people sitting around her were so mad! But she took somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 pictures that night." She smiled.
"I figured your mom would have been the one doing that." Jess said.
"Oh no we did something else. While I was up getting my diploma we kept making these crazy faces. My grandparents went wild! Mom said they kept pestering her about it."
"What do you mean crazy faces?" Jess asked. Rory quickly demonstrated before blushing and looking forward. "Oh, that kind of crazy face." They laughed.
"Did I tell you they bought me a CAR!?" Rory practically yelled.
"A car? Wow that's a pretty nice present." Jess said.
"Yea it is. But I guess I will need one. getting to and from school."
"Yea. You sure will." Jess said, trying to stay upbeat. Rory noticed his sudden mood change. She didn't know exactly what to say. But what came out was,
"You know, you could always go back and take whatever courses you need. I could help you too." Jess wasn't smiling anymore.
"That's OK Rory. I don't think I'm going back to school though."
"Jess. if. oh never mind." Rory said, cutting herself off. She didn't particularly getting into this right now. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. I just don't like to talk about it because some of the questions you were probably going to ask me, I don't have answers for."
Rory stopped them both. She turned so they were facing one another. "You don't have to be afraid to talk to me. I'm not going to judge you. I just want to help."
"Rory, maybe there's some things you cant help me with."
"Well even if I can't help, I think you should at least tell me what's going on. That's what you do in relationships Jess." Rory said, trying to keep her temper. This was how he messed up last time. By insisting to keep everything to himself.
"I know. It's just hard for me Rory. You're the first person in my life that has ever had any interest in really helping me. I'm just so used to keeping things to myself and working them out alone."
"I don't think that's true Jess. I think maybe I'm just the first person who you want to help you. Maybe. other people have tried to help you. Maybe you blocked them out."
Jess looked into Rory's eyes. "Maybe you're right." He nodded and Rory could tell he was hurting. "Maybe my life has gone the way it has because I never really loved anyone else before you."
Rory could feel her eyes stinging and right there on the street she leaned towards Jess and shared a kiss filled with 2 weeks of longing, missing, and pain. This kiss was special. They could both feel the heat of each other's body, the passion that filled the other. This was the first time that Rory didn't want to break away sooner; she wanted it to keep going. She didn't care they were being watched by dozens of passerby's and were out in the open. She had never has a kiss quite like this. But Rory didn't have a choice but to break apart because right as the kiss began to deepen, her cell phone rang. She let out a small groan and pulled back from Jess. The moment was gone.
"Hello?" Rory asked, very annoyed at whoever had decided to call her at this very second.
"Rory, its me."
"Hi mom. What's going on?"
"Nothing sweetie. You just didn't call me last night so I was worried. Where are you?" Lorelai said.
"Sorry. Yea everything is OK. Jess and I are on the boardwalk right now."
"So you found him?" Lorelai asked, obviously worried.
"Yea, last night." Rory answered.
"Did you stay at his house?" Lorelai asked, sounding if possible more worried than she had before.
"Yea, I slept on an extra mattress. Mom. everything is OK." Rory emphasized the word everything, hoping her mother would catch on.
"So you didn't. do anything?"
"Mom. No. I would tell you." Rory insisted,
"OK well then I'm gonna let you go. Be a GOOD girl." Lorelai teased.
"Shut up mom! OK, bye, love you!"
"Love you too." Lorelai said as she hung up. Rory put her phone away, laughing.
Jess gave her a quizzical look and she just said, "She's too paranoid."
******************************************
"Jess? Is it OK with your dad that I stayed here? Because if it's not then I have enough for a hotel." Rory asked nervously.
"Ror, it was fine. He's pretty laid back. Just don't worry about it." Jess smiled at her and her worries lessened a little.
"OK."
Their hands had been linked since they left the house and had only become separated when Rory had to answer the phone. It was something they had missed so they were not willing to give up their hand holding just yet. But as they neared the little beach shack that held Jimmy's office, Rory could feel her anxiety creeping up. Her hands started to get sweaty. Jess tried to calm her but it wasn't helping much. Finally Jess said,
"Rory. Chill. It's my dad. And all you have to do is say 'Hello, I'm Rory, nice to meet you.' Really now, what's the matter?" Rory didn't reply for a few moments but finally decided there was no point hiding it.
"Jess, he comes home last night and sees your girlfriend asleep on a mattress. How is that supposed to look?" Jess just laughed at this comment.
"I explained to him that you were tired, thus the sleeping. And he already knew about you, I've talked about you. So he basically knows what kind of person you are."
"What kind of person am I?" Rory asked with a mischievous grin.
"The smart kind." Rory's expression changed and she began to nod her head, thinking over every possible meaning of what Jess just said. She knew he meant it in a good way, but to any other person it could sound like an insult. After several minutes of silence, Rory decided she was over thinking the issue and just let it go. Jess noticed that Rory's eyes had unclouded and figured he should probably warn her that they were only about one hundred yards away from meeting Jimmy.
"Rory? We're almost there."
"Oh." She said.
"Don't sound so excited, he might be frightened away by your cheerfulness." Jess said, in his ever-present sarcastic tone. Just then, a man stepped out of hot-dog stand and gave Jess a half wave. Jess waved back and had to drag Rory along until they were face to face with Jess' father.
"Jimmy, this is my girlfriend, Rory." Jess said as he gave Rory a little shove so she was standing on an even plane with him.
"Rory, nice to meet you." Jimmy said as reaching out to shake her hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm sorry about just... showing up last night but I-"
"It's not problem, don't worry about it. I'm just glad I get to meet you finally." Jimmy interrupted her.
"So Jimmy, you want us to hang around for a while so you can show Rory around, or should we come back later?" Jess asked, seeing Rory fidget wasn't exactly his favorite sight.
"You guys come in real quick, its only 11:30 so the lunch crowd won't be here for a bit." Jimmy lead them through the door and into his one room hot-dog stand. "This was originally built in the 50's you know Rory."
"Oh really? That's interesting." Rory said, trying her best to sound perky.
"But, uh... this is about it. You got the kitchen over here, well its not exactly a kitchen we just a have a grill and little condiment bar, but I guess it qualifies. I'm not really a kitchen expert or anything but-"
"I would say it qualifies." Rory said. She was finally warming up to Jimmy and Jess was glad that she didn't feel TOO uncomfortable around him. So as Jimmy lead Rory around the small room Jess stood by the door. Just as Jimmy was going into his pickle jar speech, a customer came up and Jess escorted Rory out.
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Jess asked her. She smiled and leaned closer to him.
"The way Luke talked about him I thought he was going to be some kind of ex-convict running from the law while still managing to mess up everything in his path." Rory joked. "But really he seemed like a big kid. He was very excited about those pickles..." Rory continued.
"Yea, I've had to sit through the pickle story about nine times." Jess said.
"Aw, you poor baby."
"Maybe you could kiss it and make it better?" Jess added in a baby voice.
"Maybe I could." Rory said. She leaned forward and just as their lips were about to touch... "Or maybe I couldn't." She continued walking. Once she was about five feet ahead of him Jess too started to walk. He caught up to her and grabbed her hand once more.
"You're gonna pay for that. You owe me big now." He said.
"And what are you going to do about it mister?" Rory asked.
"I'm going to give you your graduation present and then you'll feel so guilty that you'll repay me on your own." Jess said.
"You got me a present?" Rory asked.
"Maybe I did..."
"What is it?"
"And why would I tell you that?" Jess asked.
"Because you looooove me. And because it's my present anyway and I'm going to know what it is as soon as you give it to me so why not just tell me now?" Rory added very matter-of-factly.
"Well you got the first part right. I do 'looooove' you. But the second part, you are all wrong there. If I told you what it was, then how does it make it a present? It's supposed to be a surprise!"
"What if I just repay what I owe you now?" She asked coyly.
"OK." Jess said. They kissed quickly. Jess shook his head. "I'm still not telling you."
"Jess... please?"
"Nope."
"Fine." Rory said, trying her hardest to frown. She wasn't doing a very good job seeing how Jess was staring at her and had a crazy grin on his face. She looked over at him and smiled shyly. "Pleeeease?"
"No." Jess unlocked their hands and draped his arm over her shoulder. As he lead her back to the house, he couldn't help but get excited about what he was going to do tonight.
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Rory was in the bathroom getting ready. Jess had only given her a few instructions on how to dress. Comfortable but not casual. As if that was possible. Rory couldn't for the life of her figure out what Jess was planning. She decided if it couldn't be casual, then it must be someplace fancy. The comfortable part... that could either mean they were doing something else or that he just loved her so much to tell her she should be comfortable. 'Screw that. I'm going all out.' Rory thought. She dressed in a short blue dress, sandals, and let her hair hang down. She put on some eyeliner, which she didn't normally do. Her blue eyes popped out and matched the color of her dress exactly.
She was finally pleased with her appearance and was ready to present herself to Jess. She walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room. Jess was sitting on the couch dressed in slacks and a black polo shirt. It wasn't his style, but he wanted to look nice. She snuck up behind him and put her hands over his eyes.
"Guess who." She said.
"Rory, will you let go of my eyes so I can see you?" Jess asked playfully.
"No. You wont tell me the plan so why should I let you see?"
"Rory, I know it seems like you want to know. But really, you don't. You would be severely disappointed if you knew in advance."
"Oh great. We're going to a sports bar aren't we?" Rory said sarcastically.
"Damn, you guessed. Oh well, guess we wont go now that you know."
"Jess!" Rory scolded him playfully.
"If you uncover my eyes we can go. And there is no way I'm telling you the plan so don't even try." Rory took her hands away and Jess turned around. She walked around the couch and stood in front of him. He didn't say anything, he just stared. Rory took his silence for a negative response. She went to her bag and said,
"I'll just change. I didn't know what to wear." Jess ran after her and grabbed her arm.
"Drop the bag." He was smiling now. Rory placed her bag on the floor. "Now step away. This way." He pulled Rory by the hand down the hall and towards the front door. "Are you ready?" Jess asked as he pulled open the door.
"Yea, I'm ready. Are you sure I look OK? I can still go change." Rory said, surveying herself, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"You look unbelievably gorgeous."
"Well that's always good to hear." Rory said.
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Jess and Rory idled along the boardwalk, hands intertwined as usual. The moon was out in its full glory and cast an iridescent light upon the pair. There was no use for conversation, the night was too beautiful. Each was consumed in their own thoughts. Jess looked over at Rory several times during their little walk, her face was bathed in moonlight and she looked so perfect. He stopped walking. She turned to see why he had stopped. She was about to speak but he placed a finger over his mouth.
They stared into each others eyes as the waves crashed against the shore. Jess inched his face forward and cupped her cheek in his hand. Finally their lips touched and they moved into an embrace. Jess' hand moved to the small of her back and Rory ran one hand through Jess' hair. They finally separated and didn't even have to say anything. They could have stood their professing their love, telling each other they would never leave each other, but right now, nothing was for sure. They were in a crazy place, between reality and fantasy. Although they loved each other, they didn't know if it would be enough to get them through the trials that were most certainly ahead.
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Rory and Jess were sitting in a booth at a semi-fancy restaurant, ordering desert. Rory was concentrating on the menu, it all sounded so good. Chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, ice cream, and then she saw it. The coffee addicts cake. Made with coffee beans, chocolate, and some cream. Topped with coffee ice cream and chocolate syrup. What more could she possibly ask for? So the waiter came and Jess ordered chocolate cake and Rory ordered of course, The Coffee Addicts cake.
"I figured you would order that. It sounds pretty good. Maybe we could share a little..." Jess said.
"Yea right. I'm eating the whole thing. You might be able to have my crumbs." Rory said sarcastically.
"Come on now Rory..." He pleaded, making his best puppy-dog face.
"AH! Don't do the face. No no no no no." Rory said as she covered her face with her napkin. Jess got up and walked around to sit next to her. He pulled the napkin from her face and kissed her quickly.
"Maybe we could just do that every time you take a bite..." They both smiled. When the waiter arrived a few minutes later, they did just that. Rory would take a small bite and Jess would kiss her. (A/N no tongue here ok ppl... he would get like food particles and crap in his mouth eww. No hes just getting the taste from her lips capiche?) They finally finished her cake and Jess hadnt even touched his. He was having too good of a time to worry about it. So they got a box for the cake.
"Maybe we can eat that later tonite..." Rory hinted suggestively as they walked out of the restaurant. Jess raised his eyebrows at her, saying
"Are you trying to seduce me Miss Gilmore?" She laughed.
"Who knows... maybe I am." And with that they walked back to Jimmy and Sasha's house.
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They reached the gate to go in about 5 minutes later, everything was close by around here. Jess was about to open the door when Rory stopped him.
"Rory... to go into the house it requires that I open the door."
"Lets not go in yet. Lets do something crazy."
"Crazy like skinny dipping in the ocean or crazy like go to the movies?" Jess asked.
"Really crazy. Leave the cake, we're going to the beach." Rory had a wild look in her eyes.
"You're joking right? You actually want to go skinny dipping in the ocean? I thought you had this 'thing about being seen naked by people'" Rory laughed.
"Dont sound so surprised. But no. We won't be completely 'skinny'" She said. Jess put the cake down on the front porch and they headed toward the beach. Jess was eyeing Rory. Was she testing him? Was she serious? Why on earth did she want to go swimming at 11 o'clock at night?
"So Rory... what brings on this sudden... spontanaity?"
"I don't really know. But it just feels like... everything is so right. Nothing could change the way I'm feeling right now. I'm just taking advantage of it. Lets just have fun."
"Alright then. Race you?" He asked.
Rory took off running. "Sure!" she called out to a now running Jess. Rory beat him to the beach, but only by a few feet. They stopped dead and Rory threw off her shoes. "Come on. Strip!" She shouted. Jess removed his shirt and threw it to the ground. There were clothes flying everywhere, each trying to get undressed first. Rory won of course because she only had to take off one item, her dress. She she was already almost to the water when Jess finally sported only his boxers. They splashed into the water. Rory dove under and came up about 10 feet away, whipping her hair back. Jess swam out to her. They were about 25 feet from shore, they couldn't touch the bottom so they just treaded water and splashed each other.
"This is fun. We should do it more often." Rory said thoughtfully.
"No arguments here." Jess said. Rory swam slowly over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck when she finally reached him. She acted as though she was going to kiss him and just as their lips were about to touch, she dunked him underwater and swam away quickly. She knew Jess would retaliate. He sputtered to the surface again yelling "I am so gonna get you Rory."
Rory was having trouble staying above water because she was laughing so hard. Jess' eyes were wide when he came up and she had obviously surprised him. He was swimming fast towards her, but Rory didn't want to be caught. She swam to the shore and began to run down the beach. Big mistake. Jess runs pretty dang fast. He caught up with her in mere seconds and tackled her to the ground. They were both laughing hysterically. They finally stopped and they both realized they were in a compromising position.
Jess was lying directly on top of Rory with his hands around her. Jess inched his face closer, pulling his hand to her stomach... Thats about the time that the beach patrol found them. Apparently they didn't take kindly to crurfew breaking and demanded that they escort the teenagers home. Sure they were 18, but the officer just didn't seem to want them on the beach. So they went home, the officer following them the whole way.
When they finally arrived, they went inside and sat in the kitchen. They were still wet from their beach endeavor. They sat in an uncomfortable silence. Finally Jess broke it.
"I'm sorry." He said, avoiding her eyes.
"For what? It wasn't your fault. God it was my fault. I was the one who wanted to do something crazy." Rory said sheepishly.
"Yea, but I took advantage of it. I shouldn't have done that."
"Jess you didn't do anything by yourself. It was mutual. We both wanted it." Rory said.
"Rory, can I be straight with you?" Jess asked after a moment.
"Yea." Their eyes locked.
"Rory... I need to know how you feel about..."
"I don't know what I want." She finished for him.
"Because sometimes, I don't know how far to let myself go. And when I think its mutual... it's not. You'll stop. And thats fine. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to pressure you into doing something you don't want to but... you never give me any indication..."
"Jess?" He looked up from the spot he had picked to stare at on the floor.
"Yea?"
"I think I need to go home."
"What!? Why?" He asked, taken aback by her sudden change of heart.
"And so do you. We're in a foreign place. We both belong back in Stars Hollow."
"Rory, I can't go back there."
"Yes you can." She said sincerely.
"Rory, I... I just can't."
"Why!? Because you're scared? Well heres a bit of a news flash for you. Life's scary." She yelled. "But if you want something bad enough, you just have to take the plunge. You have no reason why you can't go back. But if I'm not enough for you to take that plunge... then I have to go back without you."
"Rory, you can't leave me." Jess pleaded.
Rory had tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to leave you. But I will if I have to. I have to know what you're in this for. I have to know if you love me enough."
"I do love you Rory." Jess said, obviously upset.
"Then we are going home tomorrow. Pack your stuff up. I'm leaving here tomorow at 8. Goodnight. And if you aren't coming with me... Then I guess this is goodbye." She said sadly before turning to go to bed.
****************************************** (A/N) So ends the long awaited chapter 3. Sorry it took so long, I just had trouble writing the last part. So is there really trouble in paradise? or will they live happily ever after? I'm wrapping this up in the next 2 chapters so please review and tell me what you think! much love to my sisters kelly and vicky! MuAh! and thanks SO much to my reviewers!! Until next chapter... *AmSam Malfoy. PS- My birthday is this friday! (aug.8!) :-D