Disclaimer: I clearly own nothing affiliated with "Gilmore Girls."
Author's Note: I've now decided that Rory has broken up with Dean, but is not yet with Jess, although they have been on the edge of getting together for a few weeks. I hope that makes things more clear.
Previous chapter:
She had been afraid of getting burned since she was a small child.
And now, sitting next to Jess, she was once again afraid of getting burned.
But, with the force of the cold night behind her, she decided to let caution to the wind for once.
After all, she wasn't perfect.
Chapter 2: Huh
Rory shifted her body closer to Jess. She leaned over, so that she was only a few inches away from his face.
They stared at each other, both noticing the other breathing faster.
Then, she made her move.
She reached behind his ear.
He was frozen. For a few seconds, at least. Then, he recovered.
"I thought we agreed on no quarter tricks," he said, his voice softer and a little deeper than normal, as her hand accidentally brushed his hair.
She pulled out the cigarette he had carefully tucked behind his ear.
"That doesn't count when you actually have something there," she said. "I just don't like imaginary things being pulled out of my ear."
You can pull anything you want out of my ear, he thought. Anytime you want. But he didn't say anything. Instead, he watched as she moved back to her original position, cigarette in hand. She held it awkwardly, and he wondered if it would soon fall from the cracks between her fingers.
"Got a light?" she asked.
"No," he said. "Remember, you already took my lighter. Plus, didn't you just say you would never smoke?"
Rory was embarrassed, as she looked down and realized the lighter was right at her side.
She soon rectified the situation, handing him the lighter, which he gladly accepted. They both sat there for a moment, once again in silence.
"Got a light?" she asked.
"Rory," he started. But she soon quieted him by sticking the cigarette in her hand and holding it close to the hand in which he was holding the lighter.
She looked at him expectantly.
"It doesn't work that way," he said. "It has to be in your mouth, or the light will just go out. Especially in this wind."
"Huh," she said, mimicking him. It always irked her, but somehow excited her when he was so deliberately vague. She decided she could be vague too.
Rory didn't know that she needed to put the stick in her mouth for it to light. After all, she had never had a cigarette in her life. Not that she really wanted one, either. She was content to inhale his cigarette-tainted breath. It smelled nice on him, somehow.
But she was trying to be sexy. He was sexy when he smoked. She just wanted to be sexy for him, whatever it took.
She didn't realize that he always found her sexy, just as she was.
So she brought the cigarette to her mouth, slowly and deliberately. She could feel her cherry lip gloss staining the filter and she could smell the unlit tobacco mixing with the cherry smell right below her nose. It was actually rather nice, she thought. She turned toward him, expectantly, waiting for him to light it.
Rory dropped her hands and leaned in.
Funny, it's almost like I'm going to kiss him, she thought.
Apparently Jess had the same idea.
He leaned in toward her, with the lighter primed in his hand, but not yet lit. And in a swift motion, his hand flicked the cigarette from her mouth, sending it tumbling into one of the dirty cracks in the wooden bridge.
"Huh," he said.