AN: Thanks for all the awesome reviews!! Here's the next chapter! ~Kay~
breaks the storm
"Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?" Jess asked one more time.
"I'm fine, thanks." Rory said.
They sat across from each other at his kitchen table, the papers sat awkwardly between them.
A clock ticked loudly in the background.
Jess finally voiced his thoughts, "That was a nice, normal conversation we had last night." He gave a small smile.
Rory smiled and said, "Yeah it was." She paused, "It was good to talk to you like that again."
"Yeah." Jess said softly. "I miss that."
"Me too." She looked down at the table noticing that it had once been theirs.
"It was great while it lasted." Jess sighed.
"We had a wonderful marriage Jess." Rory looked up at him, "I hope you know that I don't regret any of it. Not one moment."
"I know." He paused as though debating whether or not to voice his thoughts. And then, "But I do."
A sharp pain swept through Rory's whole body, how could he say that?
Jess saw the hurt in Rory's eyes and quickly said, "I regret not fighting back when you asked for a divorce."
Rory looked at him sharply, "There was nothing you could have done Jess. I had already made up my mind."
Jess shook his head, "It doesn't matter, I still should've tried. But I didn't and look where we are now. We can barely even talk to each other anymore."
"Jess I was going to drive us further apart if we had stayed together. You know that."
"We still could have tried. If you had just told me what was bothering you . . ." Jess trailed off. He really hated talking about this. "But I guess we'll never know now, will we?" Jess shot Rory a look.
Rory bit her lip, "It was for the best. I'm surprised you put up with me that long anyway."
"You don't get it, do you?" Jess's voice was filled with cruel amazement. "You just don't get it." Jess said giving a small disbelieving laugh and shaking his head. His eyes were cold and dark, they looked almost black.
"Get what, Jess?" Rory asked. He was starting to scare her.
"That I would have stuck by you until the end. I would have never left your side no matter what happened." His eyes were like daggers. "I believed in our marriage vows but obviously you did not. You didn't believe in our marriage at all."
Rory almost flinched, his voice startled her. It was full of hatred and bitterness toward her. He had never spoken to her that way. Never. "How can you say that?" Her voice was full of shock, "I believed in out marriage until the end."
Jess laughed, a horrible, ugly laugh. "What about 'Until death do us part' Rory? What about that vow? You obviously forgot it."
"I did not." Rory turned her head away. She didn't forget it, she could never forget it.
"Then why are we here Rory? Why did you come over here to have me sign these damn divorce papers?!" Jess slammed his hand on the papers making her jump. "You forgot our marriage, you forgot our love, you forgot about everything we'd ever worked for and believed in. You forgot all of this because of one little break down you had at work."
Rory just stood there, her face was like a white sheet. She felt numb.
"One bump in the road and you give up!" Jess was shouting now, his face red. "You just drop everything and ask for a divorce without even telling me why."
Rory narrowed her eyebrows, "There's more to it then that!" Her voice was even and true.
"Yeah, but you won't tell me what that is will you?" Jess yelled. His face was pulled back, full of unsuppressed anger.
Rory didn't say anything. It was true.
"You can marry your fucking boyfriend and make the perfect god damn American family and get on with the rest of your life without me." Jess picked up the papers and stood up, "But it won't happen until you tell me why you stopped loving me."
Rory's eyes widened. No, no.
"Only then will I sign these papers. Only then." He shoved them into her hands.
Rory stared down at them and saw the empty lines where their signatures should be. She hadn't signed them yet? She could've sworn she had.
"You can't do this." Rory said standing up with him. He can't do this to me, he can't.
"Yes, Rory, I can." Jess said as if talking to a five year old. "You can take me to court if you'd like, but I won't sign those papers until you tell me what happened. Until then, your marriage to Ryan will not be legal because you're still married to me."
Rory started shaking, "No, no. You can't do this. Please, please don't do this." Rory shook her head as tears fell freely down her cheeks. "Please." The papers fluttered to the ground, she couldn't hold them; her hands were shaking too much.
Jess slowly and deliberately picked up the papers, he folded them and put them in her purse. But what he really wanted to do was hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.
Instead he said, "Control yourself Rory, you have a long ride home." His voice sounded hard and cruel even to him.
Rory stared up at him disbelieving, "Please don't do this to me Jess." Her tears still fell down her cheeks. "If you really ever loved me, don't do this, please."
For a wonderful second it looked like he would take it back, tell her that he didn't mind if she married someone else, tell her that he had forgiven her. . . but then Jess cupped her face in his hands and said, "Rory I'm doing this because I loved you. I won't be able to move on with my life until I do. And I don't think you will either. You need to do this for me and for yourself."
Seeing her face full of pain and grief tore Jess apart. But he had to stay strong. He had to know.
Rory nodded and forced her self to stop crying. Controlling herself, she pulled away from Jess and walked to the door. With her hand on the door handle, she glanced back quickly at Jess and then walked out.
Jess stared at the door after she closed it. You have to do this, Jess reminded himself, it's for the best.
Looking down at his hands he realized they were still wet with her tears.
* * *
Luke was tired. He really wanted to go to bed, but he needed to finish cleaning. Luke never left anything for the next day. It was way too late to be cleaning toasters. But here he was pulling out crumbs from tiny corners of this god damn, toaster.
A knock at the door made him yell, "We're closed! Come back in the morning."
"Luke, it's me."
Luke looked up to see Rory standing at the doorway. She looked like hell. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair in a tangled mess.
He quickly crossed the room and opened the door, "What happened?" he asked softly.
"I went to see Jess to pick up the papers." Rory walked into the diner and sat down at a stool.
Luke hurried to pour her a cup of coffee, he decided not to touch on the subject just yet, "How's Lane doing? Haven't seen her around in awhile."
Rory slowly smiled now, "Not with all those kids and another one on the way."
"She's pregnant?" Luke asked his eyebrows raised. "Again?"
"Again."
"That is one brave woman."
Rory took a sip from the mug that Luke had placed in front of her, "Yeah, she definitely is."
"How's the column going? I read your most recent one, 'Growing Up With Teenage Hormones'. I never knew you felt that way about my food." Luke chuckled.
Rory forced a smile, "Your coffee and food was apart of my childhood, I would not have grown up with out it."
"So is it official?" He asked, his tone much more serious.
"No." Rory answered not having to question what he meant.
Luke was startled and then angry. "Oh, holy Christ. Did he not sign them? The son of a --"
But Rory interrupted him before he could finish, "He's right Luke."
"What?" Luke said surprised.
"He's right." She said again as if just coming to this decision herself.
"About what Rory?"
"I need to tell him." Rory looked up at Luke, her eyes sad and frowning.
Luke was thoroughly confused now, "Tell him what?" He decided to pour more coffee into her mug.
"Why. I need to tell him why Luke."
Luke nodded, understanding now. "Yes Rory, I think you do."
Rory shook her head, "But I don't know how."
"Anyway you can." Luke said. "I think that if you don't Jess will never get on with his life. I've worried about him ever since you separated.
Rory looked up at Luke, confused.
"He has never stopped loving you, Rory, because he doesn't know how. He needs answers, and you can give them to him."
She nodded, "I should have told him a long time ago."
"Yeah, you should have." Luke still wondered why they had gotten divorced himself, but he dared not ask Rory. "So he won't sign the papers until then?"
"Yes."
"Then tell him."
"I'm so scared." Rory's eyes were full of fear and forlornness.
"Of what?" Luke asked softly.
"That he'll hate me until the end of his days." Rory's voice faltered at the end. She let out a choked sob and put her head in her arms on the table.
Luke placed his hand on her forearm and squeezed it reassuringly, "He could never hate you."
"You can't know that. You don't know what I did." Rory said between sobs.
Luke lifted Rory's head so he could look at her, her face was wet with tears. "It doesn't matter Rory. Jess doesn't know how to hate you, he wouldn't know where to begin."
"But he knows how to hate." Rory said wiping her face on her sleeve.
"Yes, he does." Luke said quietly, thinking of the way Jess still hated his father. "But he also knows how to love. An he learned that from you."
Rory forced a smile, "And you."
"I think you did most of the work." Luke said.
Rory slowly stood up from her stool, she walked around the counter and embraced her coffee man. "Thank you Luke."
Luke was somewhat surprised but recovered quickly and hugged her back. "You're welcome." He said.
When they pulled away Rory said, "Could I have some coffee to go?"
Luke nodded, "Sure."
"Make that two."
* * *
"And you will only be staying one night, correct?" The clerk asked.
"Yes." Rory said somewhat flustered. She just wanted to get out of here. Was that her heart beating against her chest? Or a hammer?
"Will you be paying cash, credit or check?" Carl asked, which was what his name tag read.
"Credit." She handed him her credit card. "Um, I will be leaving for about a half an hour right now. The doors to the hotel won't lock or anything will they?"
Carl slid her card through the computer slot, "The doors will lock but you will be able to open them with your room card." He said curtly.
Rory nodded, "Okay."
Ten minutes later Rory was in on her way to her destination with a hotel card in her purse.
She wasn't about to drive all the way back home again to Hartford. It was much too far.
While the hotel was only fifteen minutes from his house.
A thought nagged Rory at the back of her mind, how much should she tell him? How much was too much? And how much was enough?
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breaks the storm
"Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?" Jess asked one more time.
"I'm fine, thanks." Rory said.
They sat across from each other at his kitchen table, the papers sat awkwardly between them.
A clock ticked loudly in the background.
Jess finally voiced his thoughts, "That was a nice, normal conversation we had last night." He gave a small smile.
Rory smiled and said, "Yeah it was." She paused, "It was good to talk to you like that again."
"Yeah." Jess said softly. "I miss that."
"Me too." She looked down at the table noticing that it had once been theirs.
"It was great while it lasted." Jess sighed.
"We had a wonderful marriage Jess." Rory looked up at him, "I hope you know that I don't regret any of it. Not one moment."
"I know." He paused as though debating whether or not to voice his thoughts. And then, "But I do."
A sharp pain swept through Rory's whole body, how could he say that?
Jess saw the hurt in Rory's eyes and quickly said, "I regret not fighting back when you asked for a divorce."
Rory looked at him sharply, "There was nothing you could have done Jess. I had already made up my mind."
Jess shook his head, "It doesn't matter, I still should've tried. But I didn't and look where we are now. We can barely even talk to each other anymore."
"Jess I was going to drive us further apart if we had stayed together. You know that."
"We still could have tried. If you had just told me what was bothering you . . ." Jess trailed off. He really hated talking about this. "But I guess we'll never know now, will we?" Jess shot Rory a look.
Rory bit her lip, "It was for the best. I'm surprised you put up with me that long anyway."
"You don't get it, do you?" Jess's voice was filled with cruel amazement. "You just don't get it." Jess said giving a small disbelieving laugh and shaking his head. His eyes were cold and dark, they looked almost black.
"Get what, Jess?" Rory asked. He was starting to scare her.
"That I would have stuck by you until the end. I would have never left your side no matter what happened." His eyes were like daggers. "I believed in our marriage vows but obviously you did not. You didn't believe in our marriage at all."
Rory almost flinched, his voice startled her. It was full of hatred and bitterness toward her. He had never spoken to her that way. Never. "How can you say that?" Her voice was full of shock, "I believed in out marriage until the end."
Jess laughed, a horrible, ugly laugh. "What about 'Until death do us part' Rory? What about that vow? You obviously forgot it."
"I did not." Rory turned her head away. She didn't forget it, she could never forget it.
"Then why are we here Rory? Why did you come over here to have me sign these damn divorce papers?!" Jess slammed his hand on the papers making her jump. "You forgot our marriage, you forgot our love, you forgot about everything we'd ever worked for and believed in. You forgot all of this because of one little break down you had at work."
Rory just stood there, her face was like a white sheet. She felt numb.
"One bump in the road and you give up!" Jess was shouting now, his face red. "You just drop everything and ask for a divorce without even telling me why."
Rory narrowed her eyebrows, "There's more to it then that!" Her voice was even and true.
"Yeah, but you won't tell me what that is will you?" Jess yelled. His face was pulled back, full of unsuppressed anger.
Rory didn't say anything. It was true.
"You can marry your fucking boyfriend and make the perfect god damn American family and get on with the rest of your life without me." Jess picked up the papers and stood up, "But it won't happen until you tell me why you stopped loving me."
Rory's eyes widened. No, no.
"Only then will I sign these papers. Only then." He shoved them into her hands.
Rory stared down at them and saw the empty lines where their signatures should be. She hadn't signed them yet? She could've sworn she had.
"You can't do this." Rory said standing up with him. He can't do this to me, he can't.
"Yes, Rory, I can." Jess said as if talking to a five year old. "You can take me to court if you'd like, but I won't sign those papers until you tell me what happened. Until then, your marriage to Ryan will not be legal because you're still married to me."
Rory started shaking, "No, no. You can't do this. Please, please don't do this." Rory shook her head as tears fell freely down her cheeks. "Please." The papers fluttered to the ground, she couldn't hold them; her hands were shaking too much.
Jess slowly and deliberately picked up the papers, he folded them and put them in her purse. But what he really wanted to do was hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.
Instead he said, "Control yourself Rory, you have a long ride home." His voice sounded hard and cruel even to him.
Rory stared up at him disbelieving, "Please don't do this to me Jess." Her tears still fell down her cheeks. "If you really ever loved me, don't do this, please."
For a wonderful second it looked like he would take it back, tell her that he didn't mind if she married someone else, tell her that he had forgiven her. . . but then Jess cupped her face in his hands and said, "Rory I'm doing this because I loved you. I won't be able to move on with my life until I do. And I don't think you will either. You need to do this for me and for yourself."
Seeing her face full of pain and grief tore Jess apart. But he had to stay strong. He had to know.
Rory nodded and forced her self to stop crying. Controlling herself, she pulled away from Jess and walked to the door. With her hand on the door handle, she glanced back quickly at Jess and then walked out.
Jess stared at the door after she closed it. You have to do this, Jess reminded himself, it's for the best.
Looking down at his hands he realized they were still wet with her tears.
* * *
Luke was tired. He really wanted to go to bed, but he needed to finish cleaning. Luke never left anything for the next day. It was way too late to be cleaning toasters. But here he was pulling out crumbs from tiny corners of this god damn, toaster.
A knock at the door made him yell, "We're closed! Come back in the morning."
"Luke, it's me."
Luke looked up to see Rory standing at the doorway. She looked like hell. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair in a tangled mess.
He quickly crossed the room and opened the door, "What happened?" he asked softly.
"I went to see Jess to pick up the papers." Rory walked into the diner and sat down at a stool.
Luke hurried to pour her a cup of coffee, he decided not to touch on the subject just yet, "How's Lane doing? Haven't seen her around in awhile."
Rory slowly smiled now, "Not with all those kids and another one on the way."
"She's pregnant?" Luke asked his eyebrows raised. "Again?"
"Again."
"That is one brave woman."
Rory took a sip from the mug that Luke had placed in front of her, "Yeah, she definitely is."
"How's the column going? I read your most recent one, 'Growing Up With Teenage Hormones'. I never knew you felt that way about my food." Luke chuckled.
Rory forced a smile, "Your coffee and food was apart of my childhood, I would not have grown up with out it."
"So is it official?" He asked, his tone much more serious.
"No." Rory answered not having to question what he meant.
Luke was startled and then angry. "Oh, holy Christ. Did he not sign them? The son of a --"
But Rory interrupted him before he could finish, "He's right Luke."
"What?" Luke said surprised.
"He's right." She said again as if just coming to this decision herself.
"About what Rory?"
"I need to tell him." Rory looked up at Luke, her eyes sad and frowning.
Luke was thoroughly confused now, "Tell him what?" He decided to pour more coffee into her mug.
"Why. I need to tell him why Luke."
Luke nodded, understanding now. "Yes Rory, I think you do."
Rory shook her head, "But I don't know how."
"Anyway you can." Luke said. "I think that if you don't Jess will never get on with his life. I've worried about him ever since you separated.
Rory looked up at Luke, confused.
"He has never stopped loving you, Rory, because he doesn't know how. He needs answers, and you can give them to him."
She nodded, "I should have told him a long time ago."
"Yeah, you should have." Luke still wondered why they had gotten divorced himself, but he dared not ask Rory. "So he won't sign the papers until then?"
"Yes."
"Then tell him."
"I'm so scared." Rory's eyes were full of fear and forlornness.
"Of what?" Luke asked softly.
"That he'll hate me until the end of his days." Rory's voice faltered at the end. She let out a choked sob and put her head in her arms on the table.
Luke placed his hand on her forearm and squeezed it reassuringly, "He could never hate you."
"You can't know that. You don't know what I did." Rory said between sobs.
Luke lifted Rory's head so he could look at her, her face was wet with tears. "It doesn't matter Rory. Jess doesn't know how to hate you, he wouldn't know where to begin."
"But he knows how to hate." Rory said wiping her face on her sleeve.
"Yes, he does." Luke said quietly, thinking of the way Jess still hated his father. "But he also knows how to love. An he learned that from you."
Rory forced a smile, "And you."
"I think you did most of the work." Luke said.
Rory slowly stood up from her stool, she walked around the counter and embraced her coffee man. "Thank you Luke."
Luke was somewhat surprised but recovered quickly and hugged her back. "You're welcome." He said.
When they pulled away Rory said, "Could I have some coffee to go?"
Luke nodded, "Sure."
"Make that two."
* * *
"And you will only be staying one night, correct?" The clerk asked.
"Yes." Rory said somewhat flustered. She just wanted to get out of here. Was that her heart beating against her chest? Or a hammer?
"Will you be paying cash, credit or check?" Carl asked, which was what his name tag read.
"Credit." She handed him her credit card. "Um, I will be leaving for about a half an hour right now. The doors to the hotel won't lock or anything will they?"
Carl slid her card through the computer slot, "The doors will lock but you will be able to open them with your room card." He said curtly.
Rory nodded, "Okay."
Ten minutes later Rory was in on her way to her destination with a hotel card in her purse.
She wasn't about to drive all the way back home again to Hartford. It was much too far.
While the hotel was only fifteen minutes from his house.
A thought nagged Rory at the back of her mind, how much should she tell him? How much was too much? And how much was enough?
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!
