SPOILERS - None.
SUMMARY - Same as the other chapters, PG-13
DISCLAIMER - The WB, Amy Sherman-Palladino, et al owns it all.
A/N: I've been asked to do some more on Luke and Lorelai's honeymoon, but since this is a Jess's point-of-view story, I think I'll do a 'spin off' fan fic and do a Luke point-of-view story from the rehearsal dinner forward - what do y'all think of that???? Or I've got another idea..we can at least get Luke's point of view of the honeymoon so far.stay tuned!
A/N 2: Long chapter, more setup.
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Chapter Fourteen (Monday and Tuesday)
I was already awake and had just tied my robe when I heard the knock at the door. I looked over to make sure Rory was covered up before I opened the door, making a 'shhh' hand sign to the room service attendant. He quietly rolled the cart into the room, I signed for it, gave him a tip and he quietly left. I poured a cup of coffee and walked over to the bed, waving it in front of her sleeping form. "Huh.what.oh! coffee! Oh, I love you!" she said, waking up with a start. I smiled at her as she took the cup from my hands. She looked over and saw the cart.
"I love you too, Rory. Breakfast?" I asked. "I thought it might be nice out on the patio?" I said, rolling the cart out onto the terrace that overlooked the ocean. Rory scampered out of bed and put her robe on to join me.
"What time is it anyway?" she said, rubbing her eyes as she sat down to a plate of eggs and pancakes.
"It's a little after 7, why?" I asked, taking a bite of my toast and looking out at the sun rise.
"Seven!? Argh!" she just about choked on her food. "Why on earth are we up so early?" she asked incredibly.
I felt awful. I should have known that her penchant for sleeping late hasn't changed any. "I'm sorry, you can always go back to sleep after I leave, but I have to meet with the hotel staff to interview them about weddings, then I have a 10:30 appointment with the couple that are getting married this afternoon, then I have to talk to Bill at the paper at noon, and somewhere in there I need to book our own wedding." I said, ticking off the tasks at hand.
The look on her face explained it all. She was caught up in the fact that we were down here just to play and forgot that I was here to do a job, get my interviews and write my story. The wedding was just an added bonus. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean like our wedding was just something to put on my agenda, I meant that I need to get a lot done in a short amount of time if I'm going to have any free time to spend with you while we're here, so do you want to try for Tuesday or Wednesday?" I started to rant. Damn, and I thought that I had cured myself of the bad habit of ranting, but it all came back when Rory came back into my life.
"Whoa, there! Why don't you let me handle the wedding plans?" Rory offered. "That way it'll free you up to work on the things that you need to do for the story, I was thinking Wednesday, and don't worry - I really don't mind, I'll call my mom for some advice and I've already kind of.started a list," she smiled at me.
"Not a pro and con list, I hope?" I said sarcastically.
"No! It's a 'what would make our wedding perfect' kind of list" she said with air quotes.
"Okay then, good. I'm going to jump in the shower and get ready for my meeting. I'll only be gone for a few hours, okay? Then I'll be free all afternoon to do stuff with you, after my noon call with Bill."
"Sounds good to me. It'll give me some time to wander around this place - it's such a huge resort, I'm sure there are tons of 'activities' for us," she smiled, using the air quotes again. I laughed.
"So I hope you don't' mind that this will be a reverse kind of deal - we'll have our honeymoon first, then get married? I mean, I'm going to have to get back to New York."
"Yeah, and I've got to get back to work in D.C., I have to call them this morning to find out what day exactly, but I have a feeling that they're going to want me back on the job on Thursday, so we might have to leave Wednesday." Rory interrupted, a little gloomy.
"Yeah, it looks that way for me, too. How weird is that. We're going to get married, then jet off in different directions," I said with a frown. But then Rory smiled, lifting my heart a little.
"Yeah, but it's only for a little while, right?" she said hopefully.
"Just give me enough time to pack up my apartment and I'll be there, by your side," I said as I went into the bathroom.
I dressed and headed out for my meeting. I met with hotel staff that book weddings and talked to a couple of people who were milling around waiting to talk to these people about booking their weddings. I never realized what a big business it was. I felt a wave of panic flood over me thinking that we might not be able to get married at all! I was introduced to the couple who were getting married that afternoon and we sat out by the pool and talked about their plans and what made them choose to get married on an island, etc. I was starting to run a little over time and was riding up the elevator to go back to the room when my cell phone rang. "Jess Mariano," I answered.
"Hey buddy, are you married yet?" Bill laughed into the phone. Obviously everyone in the office knew about it by now.
"Nope, not yet, but she's planning it for the next day or so," I smiled at the thought of her, still worried that we might not be able to do it here.
"Well, good for you buddy, I'm real happy for you. And it'll make a great side-story, too. So is your bride a city girl?" he asked lightheartedly.
"Well, actually that's one thing I need to ask you about. Will you have a problem if I live in D.C.? She works for CNN on the Washington beat. It won't be an issue to get to the city for meetings or anything, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem," I said, closing my eyes and hoping that he would say okay.
"Sure, that won't be a problem, I was worried that you were going to quit on me! I can't lose my best travel writer!" he sounded relieved.
"About that." I lead off.
"Uh, oh. You don't WANT to be my best travel writer anymore, do you?" he said with concern.
"Well, it's just that I'd like to stick a little closer to home for a while, you know, since.well, we aren't really even going to have a honeymoon because of our schedules," I stammered. Shit, this wasn't going to fly with Bill. He likes to keep me moving.
"Hell, you can do some local stories for a while, I've been taking advantage of your nomadic nature for a while now!" he laughed. I felt so relieved.
"Okay, so let's talk on Thursday. I'll be in the office at 9, okay?"
"Sounds great, Jess. And hey, congratulations," he said and hung up the phone. Whew. That was easier than I thought.
I came back into the room to see Rory sunning herself on our balcony. "Hey, you should have gone by the pool," I said giving her a kiss.
"And miss having you give me a 'honey I'm home' moment? Never!" she teased, kissing me again.
"So? Are we still getting married?" I smiled and raised an eyebrow.
She gave me a quick kiss. "Wednesday morning - they can do a sunrise ceremony." she said with some apprehension. I laughed and shook my head, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Yeah, you're absolutely right, my mom is less than thrilled with the hour!" and we both laughed. "But I got lucky and I was able to book them a room here for tomorrow night so we can all have dinner together tomorrow - won't that be nice?"
"Sounds good. And guess what? Bill won't have a problem with me living in D.C., so that should make you happy, right? I should be moved down to your place by the end of next week. AND, he said he'd take it easy on my travel schedule for a while, so we can have some time together," I put my arms around her.
"Wow, things are working out so great," she said, hugging me tightly to her.
"Yeah." I pulled away from her. "So? Lunch? Then we can go for a walk on the beach and then a swim in the ocean?" I suggested.
"Sounds great! Look at you, all making plans and stuff! Oh! And a coconut drink?" she said all bubbly and girly, going through her clothes to find something to throw over her bathing suit.
"Yes, dear," I surrendered with my eyes rolled, changing out of my khakis and into my swim trunks and a polo shirt. She grabbed her beach bag and I took a peak inside. Sunscreen, towel, book. Of course. I grabbed my book and a pen and tossed them in the bag.
We had some lunch and took a long walk down the beach (with Rory fastidiously timing the 'one hour before swimming' rule) and when she finally said it was an hour, she set down the beach towel and started to take off her shorts. I quickly pulled off my shirt and threw my wallet on the towel and grabbed her with fierce eyes, making a growling sound. I picked her up in my arms and ran into the surf, tossing her in, all the while she giggled and fought me, but not very hard. Once she stood up and realized we were only waist high in the water, she giggled even more. I dove into the water and swam out until the water got a little deeper. "Since when do you swim?" she called out to me.
"Since Luke pushed me off the bridge!" I laughed, catching my breath, treading water. I swam back over to her, diving under to grab her ankles and make her scream in surprise. When I came above water she smacked me in the arm. I put my arms around her, enjoying the closeness and how nice the water felt.
"No, really, how can you swim so well, being from New York City and all?" she asked, seriously.
I hesitated. It's a part of my life that I really didn't want to discuss with Rory. "Jimmy taught me how to swim when he taught me how to surf," I said, hardly being able to look at her. I didn't want to talk about things that happened when I ran away from her to California.
"Oh, oh! That would explain it," she said thoughtfully, making it sound as though it had slipped her mind. I pursed my lips. I didn't want this conversation to continue in the direction it was going. We'll have time to discuss that time in our lives, but not now, not here, not yet.
"So when are Luke and Lorelai getting here tomorrow?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.
"They should be here a little after 2, I told them that we would pick them up at the airport, is that okay?" she asked.
"Sounds good," I said as I led her back out of the water to our towel. We spent the balance of the afternoon sunning ourselves, going in the water and reading. We went back up to the room to take showers and get dressed for dinner. When Rory came out of the bathroom she was wearing a beautiful ocean blue sundress that brought out the color of her eyes as well as the fairly nice tan she had gotten from the last two days on the island. I was standing out on the balcony watching the couple I had interviewed getting married. It was beautiful. The sunset, the water, the couple dressed in white surrounded by their friends. Rory came out onto the balcony and I stood behind her with my arms around her, watching the scene in front of us.
"It's beautiful," she said quietly.
"Yeah, ours will be too. I love you," I answered back, kissing her neck affectionately.
We went for a drive and found a nice restaurant on the other side of the island. The owner was what you'd call a 'typical' islander - all happy and accommodating. He immediately guessed that we were newlyweds and pampered us all during our meal. Rory enjoyed it immensely, but I still don't like too much attention made to me. Plus I always have the fear that someone will recognize me and think that I'm doing a story on their restaurant and will make a big fuss over me. That really bugs me. I like to travel incognito when I can, which used to be all the time. I have a feeling once our wedding picture is in the Times, that'll be the end of my ability to travel inconspicuously. We enjoyed our meal, which was all made with local island specialties, fish and fruits of every kind and went back to the hotel. "So? Should we try the Jacuzzi again? I promise not as many bubbles this time!" she said giddily as we went up the elevator.
"Anything you want," I answered. When we got in the room I was about to order a bottle of champagne, when I noticed that there was a fruit basket with a bottle sitting on the dresser. "Rory? Was this here when we left?" I asked. Rory walked out of bathroom and looked at it quizzically.
"No, it wasn't. I wonder who sent it?" she asked, pulling the gift card from the basket. She read it aloud - "'Our best wishes to the happy couple - from the Rainbow Hotel Wedding Coordinator' Aw! Isn't that nice of them?" she gushed, pulling out the bottle of champagne.
"I'm sure it's part of the package, but yeah, it's nice," I said, grabbing the ice bucket and heading out into the hallway to fill it. I came back and filled the rest of the bucket with water and put the bottle in it.
"Why'd you do that? I thought it was an ICE bucket, not a water and ice bucket" Rory looked at me funny.
"It chills the champagne faster," I answered, setting the bottle and glasses on the side of the tub, slipping off my boat shoes and shedding the rest of my clothes. I was secretly hoping she wouldn't ask me how I know that, and fortunately she didn't ask, although I think she wanted to. What on earth would I have told her? 'Oh yeah, the faster you chill the champagne, the faster you can get the model into bed,' that would go over like a lead balloon.
We enjoyed a soak in the tub and a tumble in bed before finally calling it a night and going to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, Rory wasn't in bed. I looked around, and found her out on the balcony - no doubt there was a sunrise wedding going on and she wanted to see what it would be like. I put on my robe and walked out to her, she turned and smiled. "I can't wait!" she said excitedly, throwing her arms around me.
"Whoa! Did you sneak out to get coffee already or something? Because I've NEVER seen a Gilmore awake at this hour!" I smirked at her. She responded by kissing me - hard. I had to laugh. "Okay, so here we are again, in a similar situation to yesterday. Do you want to get dressed and get some coffee and breakfast, or." I raised an eyebrow and smiled. She smiled back.
"How about we call room service?" she said playfully.
"As you wish," I answered, pulling out the menu for her to look at. I ordered and we watched the wedding ceremony until the food came, then we had our breakfast and fell back into bed to make love again.
I held her close, her head resting against my chest, her hand splayed across my stomach drawing little circles with her fingertip. "Jess? Can I ask you something?" she said tentatively.
I half-opened my eyes. "Huh? Sure, ask me anything," I said drowsily.
"Um, how many women have you been with?" I didn't answer her right away. "I mean, I know it's probably not the best time to ask you, the day before we're getting married, but, I don't know.I." she started to rant.
"Rory," I said, interrupting her. Geez, I had to think about this one. I had to be honest with her. I shifted a little and she raised her head so that she was looking at me. I could tell she was bracing herself for what the answer would be. "That's a tough question.I guess it depends." she looked at me oddly. "If you're asking me how many women I've had sex with, I would have to say, well, a lot." I waited and gauged her reaction, which was her biting her lower lip and downcasting her eyes. I put my hand gently under her chin to lift her face up to me. "But if you wanted to know how many women I've ever made love with, my answer would be one. Before you came into my life, I didn't know what I was doing, I just screwed around. And after I left you, well, I knew that I didn't want anyone else but you, but it was too late for us. At least I thought it was." I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should elaborate, but I had gone this far, so what the hell. "Geez, Rory, this is really hard to say.but.I could never close my eyes when I was with.a girl.because if I closed my eyes I would always see you. And it would hurt too much knowing it wasn't you." Now it was my turn to bite my lower lip. I wasn't able to read her reaction right away, which is unusual for me. Rory is usually such an open book. Her eyes searched mine and I found myself somewhere in between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. I just wanted a reaction - any reaction.
She cleared her throat. "I've been with four guys," she volunteered. Her eyes were moist but she wasn't crying. "I thought I loved one of them, but." she couldn't finish. I stroked her cheek.
"Rory," I said calmly, trying to calm her down. She started to cry and held onto me, pressing her face against my chest. "Rory, honey, it's okay, we both have a past, unfortunately there's nothing we can do to change it, so let's move forward. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and nothing is going to change that," I said reassuringly stroking her hair.
She looked up at me, her eyes glistening. "Yeah, you're right, I think I'm just being emotional today," she said, trying to force a small smile.
"It's the day before your wedding, I think you're allowed to be emotional," I replied sincerely.
"So when are you going to get emotional?" she said with a teasing sound in her voice.
"Me? The rebel without a cause? Emotional?" I said faking shock. She giggled a little.
"I love you, Jess Mariano," she said simply.
"I love YOU, Rory Gilmore," I answered. We lay there for a while, lost in our thoughts. I looked over at the clock and it was already 11:30. "Geez, we've got to pick up your mom and Luke!" I said, waking her out of her daze as she looked at the clock. We both jumped out of bed and ran to the shower, getting through it together without the usual 'fun' since we were in such a hurry. I dressed and waited for Rory to dry her hair and finish dressing.
We went downstairs and got into the rental car and headed for the airport. "We're running a little early, do you want to stop for some lunch?" I asked.
"Nah, let's just have lunch together after they get here," she answered. I gave her a look with a raised eyebrow. "What? No, I'm not hungry every second of the day, if that's what that look is for," she teased.
"If you say so," I smirked and set my eyes back on the road. I could see her smiling as she crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
We got to the little airport and sat down, Rory getting up almost immediately to find someplace to get a snack. She walked back over at sat down next to me and stuck her tongue out at me. I just smirked and continued to read my book. She swatted me on the arm and I laughed out loud.
"Rory!" Lorelai shouted out as they came into the terminal. "I've missed you!" she said pulling her into a hug.
"It's been 4 days," I commented dryly, and got a look of disdain from both of them.
"And look what I bought for you!" she squealed, holding up the garment bag that had a white lace dress in it. Rory's eyes grew big when she saw it.
"I love it!" she hugged her mother again.
Luke walked out into the terminal carrying their two gigantic suitcases and I just about fainted. He was wearing the same flowered shorts that Rory made me buy! He had on an ocean blue gauze shirt that was almost completely unbuttoned and sandals, looking more tan than I've ever seen him. He walked over to us with a huge un-Luke-like smile. "Hey! Is it great here or what?" he said enthusiastically.
"Don't mind Jimmy Buffet over there, he's been in margaritaville heaven since we got here!" Lorelai laughed.
Rory's jaw dropped and she pointed at his shorts and looked at me and laughed out loud. "Oh my god! Jess has the SAME shorts! You guys could be twins!" she laughed loudly. Lorelai caught on and started to laugh, which made Rory laugh harder.
"I am NOT wearing those shorts if he's wearing them!" I said, holding back a smile, trying to sound serious. Rory came over and put her arms around me and kissed my cheek.
'We'll see about that!" she whispered in my ear.
"I'm telling you, Jess, the Gilmore women are hard enough to resist, but once you're married to one, forget it!" Luke said, getting a smack in the arm from Lorelai.
"Don't listen to him!" Lorelai said to me, rolling her eyes.
We piled into the rental car and headed for the hotel. "Okay, so this is the plan," Lorelai started excitedly. Luke let out a sigh. "Oh, shush, you. Okay, so since the bride's not supposed to see the groom before the wedding, I figured that Rory and I would share your room tonight, and Jess, you and Luke could share the other room. How does that sound?"
Rory looked at me with a furrowed brow. "Terrible!" she said and I nodded in agreement.
"Oh, come on, we can do each other's hair and nails and talk about the wedding," Lorelai gushed.
"And Jess, you and me can hit the bars for your bachelor party," Luke interjected, giving my shoulder a squeeze from the back seat. I turned and smiled.
"I don't think so!" Rory and Lorelai both protested loudly.
"We'll see," I said back to Luke with a snicker.
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.to be continued!!!
Jess and Luke have some drinks and talk about the honeymoon and life, Rory and Lorelai bond, Jess and Rory FINALLY get married.or do they????
.stay tuned..
A/N: I've been asked to do some more on Luke and Lorelai's honeymoon, but since this is a Jess's point-of-view story, I think I'll do a 'spin off' fan fic and do a Luke point-of-view story from the rehearsal dinner forward - what do y'all think of that???? Or I've got another idea..we can at least get Luke's point of view of the honeymoon so far.stay tuned!
A/N 2: Long chapter, more setup.
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Chapter Fourteen (Monday and Tuesday)
I was already awake and had just tied my robe when I heard the knock at the door. I looked over to make sure Rory was covered up before I opened the door, making a 'shhh' hand sign to the room service attendant. He quietly rolled the cart into the room, I signed for it, gave him a tip and he quietly left. I poured a cup of coffee and walked over to the bed, waving it in front of her sleeping form. "Huh.what.oh! coffee! Oh, I love you!" she said, waking up with a start. I smiled at her as she took the cup from my hands. She looked over and saw the cart.
"I love you too, Rory. Breakfast?" I asked. "I thought it might be nice out on the patio?" I said, rolling the cart out onto the terrace that overlooked the ocean. Rory scampered out of bed and put her robe on to join me.
"What time is it anyway?" she said, rubbing her eyes as she sat down to a plate of eggs and pancakes.
"It's a little after 7, why?" I asked, taking a bite of my toast and looking out at the sun rise.
"Seven!? Argh!" she just about choked on her food. "Why on earth are we up so early?" she asked incredibly.
I felt awful. I should have known that her penchant for sleeping late hasn't changed any. "I'm sorry, you can always go back to sleep after I leave, but I have to meet with the hotel staff to interview them about weddings, then I have a 10:30 appointment with the couple that are getting married this afternoon, then I have to talk to Bill at the paper at noon, and somewhere in there I need to book our own wedding." I said, ticking off the tasks at hand.
The look on her face explained it all. She was caught up in the fact that we were down here just to play and forgot that I was here to do a job, get my interviews and write my story. The wedding was just an added bonus. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean like our wedding was just something to put on my agenda, I meant that I need to get a lot done in a short amount of time if I'm going to have any free time to spend with you while we're here, so do you want to try for Tuesday or Wednesday?" I started to rant. Damn, and I thought that I had cured myself of the bad habit of ranting, but it all came back when Rory came back into my life.
"Whoa, there! Why don't you let me handle the wedding plans?" Rory offered. "That way it'll free you up to work on the things that you need to do for the story, I was thinking Wednesday, and don't worry - I really don't mind, I'll call my mom for some advice and I've already kind of.started a list," she smiled at me.
"Not a pro and con list, I hope?" I said sarcastically.
"No! It's a 'what would make our wedding perfect' kind of list" she said with air quotes.
"Okay then, good. I'm going to jump in the shower and get ready for my meeting. I'll only be gone for a few hours, okay? Then I'll be free all afternoon to do stuff with you, after my noon call with Bill."
"Sounds good to me. It'll give me some time to wander around this place - it's such a huge resort, I'm sure there are tons of 'activities' for us," she smiled, using the air quotes again. I laughed.
"So I hope you don't' mind that this will be a reverse kind of deal - we'll have our honeymoon first, then get married? I mean, I'm going to have to get back to New York."
"Yeah, and I've got to get back to work in D.C., I have to call them this morning to find out what day exactly, but I have a feeling that they're going to want me back on the job on Thursday, so we might have to leave Wednesday." Rory interrupted, a little gloomy.
"Yeah, it looks that way for me, too. How weird is that. We're going to get married, then jet off in different directions," I said with a frown. But then Rory smiled, lifting my heart a little.
"Yeah, but it's only for a little while, right?" she said hopefully.
"Just give me enough time to pack up my apartment and I'll be there, by your side," I said as I went into the bathroom.
I dressed and headed out for my meeting. I met with hotel staff that book weddings and talked to a couple of people who were milling around waiting to talk to these people about booking their weddings. I never realized what a big business it was. I felt a wave of panic flood over me thinking that we might not be able to get married at all! I was introduced to the couple who were getting married that afternoon and we sat out by the pool and talked about their plans and what made them choose to get married on an island, etc. I was starting to run a little over time and was riding up the elevator to go back to the room when my cell phone rang. "Jess Mariano," I answered.
"Hey buddy, are you married yet?" Bill laughed into the phone. Obviously everyone in the office knew about it by now.
"Nope, not yet, but she's planning it for the next day or so," I smiled at the thought of her, still worried that we might not be able to do it here.
"Well, good for you buddy, I'm real happy for you. And it'll make a great side-story, too. So is your bride a city girl?" he asked lightheartedly.
"Well, actually that's one thing I need to ask you about. Will you have a problem if I live in D.C.? She works for CNN on the Washington beat. It won't be an issue to get to the city for meetings or anything, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem," I said, closing my eyes and hoping that he would say okay.
"Sure, that won't be a problem, I was worried that you were going to quit on me! I can't lose my best travel writer!" he sounded relieved.
"About that." I lead off.
"Uh, oh. You don't WANT to be my best travel writer anymore, do you?" he said with concern.
"Well, it's just that I'd like to stick a little closer to home for a while, you know, since.well, we aren't really even going to have a honeymoon because of our schedules," I stammered. Shit, this wasn't going to fly with Bill. He likes to keep me moving.
"Hell, you can do some local stories for a while, I've been taking advantage of your nomadic nature for a while now!" he laughed. I felt so relieved.
"Okay, so let's talk on Thursday. I'll be in the office at 9, okay?"
"Sounds great, Jess. And hey, congratulations," he said and hung up the phone. Whew. That was easier than I thought.
I came back into the room to see Rory sunning herself on our balcony. "Hey, you should have gone by the pool," I said giving her a kiss.
"And miss having you give me a 'honey I'm home' moment? Never!" she teased, kissing me again.
"So? Are we still getting married?" I smiled and raised an eyebrow.
She gave me a quick kiss. "Wednesday morning - they can do a sunrise ceremony." she said with some apprehension. I laughed and shook my head, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Yeah, you're absolutely right, my mom is less than thrilled with the hour!" and we both laughed. "But I got lucky and I was able to book them a room here for tomorrow night so we can all have dinner together tomorrow - won't that be nice?"
"Sounds good. And guess what? Bill won't have a problem with me living in D.C., so that should make you happy, right? I should be moved down to your place by the end of next week. AND, he said he'd take it easy on my travel schedule for a while, so we can have some time together," I put my arms around her.
"Wow, things are working out so great," she said, hugging me tightly to her.
"Yeah." I pulled away from her. "So? Lunch? Then we can go for a walk on the beach and then a swim in the ocean?" I suggested.
"Sounds great! Look at you, all making plans and stuff! Oh! And a coconut drink?" she said all bubbly and girly, going through her clothes to find something to throw over her bathing suit.
"Yes, dear," I surrendered with my eyes rolled, changing out of my khakis and into my swim trunks and a polo shirt. She grabbed her beach bag and I took a peak inside. Sunscreen, towel, book. Of course. I grabbed my book and a pen and tossed them in the bag.
We had some lunch and took a long walk down the beach (with Rory fastidiously timing the 'one hour before swimming' rule) and when she finally said it was an hour, she set down the beach towel and started to take off her shorts. I quickly pulled off my shirt and threw my wallet on the towel and grabbed her with fierce eyes, making a growling sound. I picked her up in my arms and ran into the surf, tossing her in, all the while she giggled and fought me, but not very hard. Once she stood up and realized we were only waist high in the water, she giggled even more. I dove into the water and swam out until the water got a little deeper. "Since when do you swim?" she called out to me.
"Since Luke pushed me off the bridge!" I laughed, catching my breath, treading water. I swam back over to her, diving under to grab her ankles and make her scream in surprise. When I came above water she smacked me in the arm. I put my arms around her, enjoying the closeness and how nice the water felt.
"No, really, how can you swim so well, being from New York City and all?" she asked, seriously.
I hesitated. It's a part of my life that I really didn't want to discuss with Rory. "Jimmy taught me how to swim when he taught me how to surf," I said, hardly being able to look at her. I didn't want to talk about things that happened when I ran away from her to California.
"Oh, oh! That would explain it," she said thoughtfully, making it sound as though it had slipped her mind. I pursed my lips. I didn't want this conversation to continue in the direction it was going. We'll have time to discuss that time in our lives, but not now, not here, not yet.
"So when are Luke and Lorelai getting here tomorrow?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.
"They should be here a little after 2, I told them that we would pick them up at the airport, is that okay?" she asked.
"Sounds good," I said as I led her back out of the water to our towel. We spent the balance of the afternoon sunning ourselves, going in the water and reading. We went back up to the room to take showers and get dressed for dinner. When Rory came out of the bathroom she was wearing a beautiful ocean blue sundress that brought out the color of her eyes as well as the fairly nice tan she had gotten from the last two days on the island. I was standing out on the balcony watching the couple I had interviewed getting married. It was beautiful. The sunset, the water, the couple dressed in white surrounded by their friends. Rory came out onto the balcony and I stood behind her with my arms around her, watching the scene in front of us.
"It's beautiful," she said quietly.
"Yeah, ours will be too. I love you," I answered back, kissing her neck affectionately.
We went for a drive and found a nice restaurant on the other side of the island. The owner was what you'd call a 'typical' islander - all happy and accommodating. He immediately guessed that we were newlyweds and pampered us all during our meal. Rory enjoyed it immensely, but I still don't like too much attention made to me. Plus I always have the fear that someone will recognize me and think that I'm doing a story on their restaurant and will make a big fuss over me. That really bugs me. I like to travel incognito when I can, which used to be all the time. I have a feeling once our wedding picture is in the Times, that'll be the end of my ability to travel inconspicuously. We enjoyed our meal, which was all made with local island specialties, fish and fruits of every kind and went back to the hotel. "So? Should we try the Jacuzzi again? I promise not as many bubbles this time!" she said giddily as we went up the elevator.
"Anything you want," I answered. When we got in the room I was about to order a bottle of champagne, when I noticed that there was a fruit basket with a bottle sitting on the dresser. "Rory? Was this here when we left?" I asked. Rory walked out of bathroom and looked at it quizzically.
"No, it wasn't. I wonder who sent it?" she asked, pulling the gift card from the basket. She read it aloud - "'Our best wishes to the happy couple - from the Rainbow Hotel Wedding Coordinator' Aw! Isn't that nice of them?" she gushed, pulling out the bottle of champagne.
"I'm sure it's part of the package, but yeah, it's nice," I said, grabbing the ice bucket and heading out into the hallway to fill it. I came back and filled the rest of the bucket with water and put the bottle in it.
"Why'd you do that? I thought it was an ICE bucket, not a water and ice bucket" Rory looked at me funny.
"It chills the champagne faster," I answered, setting the bottle and glasses on the side of the tub, slipping off my boat shoes and shedding the rest of my clothes. I was secretly hoping she wouldn't ask me how I know that, and fortunately she didn't ask, although I think she wanted to. What on earth would I have told her? 'Oh yeah, the faster you chill the champagne, the faster you can get the model into bed,' that would go over like a lead balloon.
We enjoyed a soak in the tub and a tumble in bed before finally calling it a night and going to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, Rory wasn't in bed. I looked around, and found her out on the balcony - no doubt there was a sunrise wedding going on and she wanted to see what it would be like. I put on my robe and walked out to her, she turned and smiled. "I can't wait!" she said excitedly, throwing her arms around me.
"Whoa! Did you sneak out to get coffee already or something? Because I've NEVER seen a Gilmore awake at this hour!" I smirked at her. She responded by kissing me - hard. I had to laugh. "Okay, so here we are again, in a similar situation to yesterday. Do you want to get dressed and get some coffee and breakfast, or." I raised an eyebrow and smiled. She smiled back.
"How about we call room service?" she said playfully.
"As you wish," I answered, pulling out the menu for her to look at. I ordered and we watched the wedding ceremony until the food came, then we had our breakfast and fell back into bed to make love again.
I held her close, her head resting against my chest, her hand splayed across my stomach drawing little circles with her fingertip. "Jess? Can I ask you something?" she said tentatively.
I half-opened my eyes. "Huh? Sure, ask me anything," I said drowsily.
"Um, how many women have you been with?" I didn't answer her right away. "I mean, I know it's probably not the best time to ask you, the day before we're getting married, but, I don't know.I." she started to rant.
"Rory," I said, interrupting her. Geez, I had to think about this one. I had to be honest with her. I shifted a little and she raised her head so that she was looking at me. I could tell she was bracing herself for what the answer would be. "That's a tough question.I guess it depends." she looked at me oddly. "If you're asking me how many women I've had sex with, I would have to say, well, a lot." I waited and gauged her reaction, which was her biting her lower lip and downcasting her eyes. I put my hand gently under her chin to lift her face up to me. "But if you wanted to know how many women I've ever made love with, my answer would be one. Before you came into my life, I didn't know what I was doing, I just screwed around. And after I left you, well, I knew that I didn't want anyone else but you, but it was too late for us. At least I thought it was." I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should elaborate, but I had gone this far, so what the hell. "Geez, Rory, this is really hard to say.but.I could never close my eyes when I was with.a girl.because if I closed my eyes I would always see you. And it would hurt too much knowing it wasn't you." Now it was my turn to bite my lower lip. I wasn't able to read her reaction right away, which is unusual for me. Rory is usually such an open book. Her eyes searched mine and I found myself somewhere in between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. I just wanted a reaction - any reaction.
She cleared her throat. "I've been with four guys," she volunteered. Her eyes were moist but she wasn't crying. "I thought I loved one of them, but." she couldn't finish. I stroked her cheek.
"Rory," I said calmly, trying to calm her down. She started to cry and held onto me, pressing her face against my chest. "Rory, honey, it's okay, we both have a past, unfortunately there's nothing we can do to change it, so let's move forward. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and nothing is going to change that," I said reassuringly stroking her hair.
She looked up at me, her eyes glistening. "Yeah, you're right, I think I'm just being emotional today," she said, trying to force a small smile.
"It's the day before your wedding, I think you're allowed to be emotional," I replied sincerely.
"So when are you going to get emotional?" she said with a teasing sound in her voice.
"Me? The rebel without a cause? Emotional?" I said faking shock. She giggled a little.
"I love you, Jess Mariano," she said simply.
"I love YOU, Rory Gilmore," I answered. We lay there for a while, lost in our thoughts. I looked over at the clock and it was already 11:30. "Geez, we've got to pick up your mom and Luke!" I said, waking her out of her daze as she looked at the clock. We both jumped out of bed and ran to the shower, getting through it together without the usual 'fun' since we were in such a hurry. I dressed and waited for Rory to dry her hair and finish dressing.
We went downstairs and got into the rental car and headed for the airport. "We're running a little early, do you want to stop for some lunch?" I asked.
"Nah, let's just have lunch together after they get here," she answered. I gave her a look with a raised eyebrow. "What? No, I'm not hungry every second of the day, if that's what that look is for," she teased.
"If you say so," I smirked and set my eyes back on the road. I could see her smiling as she crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
We got to the little airport and sat down, Rory getting up almost immediately to find someplace to get a snack. She walked back over at sat down next to me and stuck her tongue out at me. I just smirked and continued to read my book. She swatted me on the arm and I laughed out loud.
"Rory!" Lorelai shouted out as they came into the terminal. "I've missed you!" she said pulling her into a hug.
"It's been 4 days," I commented dryly, and got a look of disdain from both of them.
"And look what I bought for you!" she squealed, holding up the garment bag that had a white lace dress in it. Rory's eyes grew big when she saw it.
"I love it!" she hugged her mother again.
Luke walked out into the terminal carrying their two gigantic suitcases and I just about fainted. He was wearing the same flowered shorts that Rory made me buy! He had on an ocean blue gauze shirt that was almost completely unbuttoned and sandals, looking more tan than I've ever seen him. He walked over to us with a huge un-Luke-like smile. "Hey! Is it great here or what?" he said enthusiastically.
"Don't mind Jimmy Buffet over there, he's been in margaritaville heaven since we got here!" Lorelai laughed.
Rory's jaw dropped and she pointed at his shorts and looked at me and laughed out loud. "Oh my god! Jess has the SAME shorts! You guys could be twins!" she laughed loudly. Lorelai caught on and started to laugh, which made Rory laugh harder.
"I am NOT wearing those shorts if he's wearing them!" I said, holding back a smile, trying to sound serious. Rory came over and put her arms around me and kissed my cheek.
'We'll see about that!" she whispered in my ear.
"I'm telling you, Jess, the Gilmore women are hard enough to resist, but once you're married to one, forget it!" Luke said, getting a smack in the arm from Lorelai.
"Don't listen to him!" Lorelai said to me, rolling her eyes.
We piled into the rental car and headed for the hotel. "Okay, so this is the plan," Lorelai started excitedly. Luke let out a sigh. "Oh, shush, you. Okay, so since the bride's not supposed to see the groom before the wedding, I figured that Rory and I would share your room tonight, and Jess, you and Luke could share the other room. How does that sound?"
Rory looked at me with a furrowed brow. "Terrible!" she said and I nodded in agreement.
"Oh, come on, we can do each other's hair and nails and talk about the wedding," Lorelai gushed.
"And Jess, you and me can hit the bars for your bachelor party," Luke interjected, giving my shoulder a squeeze from the back seat. I turned and smiled.
"I don't think so!" Rory and Lorelai both protested loudly.
"We'll see," I said back to Luke with a snicker.
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.to be continued!!!
Jess and Luke have some drinks and talk about the honeymoon and life, Rory and Lorelai bond, Jess and Rory FINALLY get married.or do they????
.stay tuned..