Title: Recalling the Best of the Worst Times
Author: Sirius
Pairing: R/J
Summary: Jess thinks back over some of his best memories of Start Hollow.
After I let Rory go that day at the bus station, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I didn't even go track down my best friends in New York because I knew I wouldn't be staying long. I knew I had to go to back. Liz had no problem with it. At all. None. I'm not even sure she knew I'd ever come back. It was absolutely fine with me.
As soon as my bus arrived back in Stars Hollow, I took the back way into the dinner and rushed upstairs before anyone could see me. I hung out around up there until Luke came up to look for his leather ledger. He was surprised to see me, to say the very least, but after we argued for a bit, he agreed to let me stay. At that moment, he was my savior. He warned me not to go looking for Rory right now because she was still happily with Dean. Dean my ass.
I went to Sookie's wedding. I wasn't invited, per say, but I didn't stay for the ceremony so I figured that was still okay. I stayed down by the water, planning to just watch Rory. Then, she came walking up the path with her dad. From what I could see, his cell phone went off and she was left alone. She was about to walk back to the Inn when she saw me. I think she hesitated for a minute, debating whether or not to come talk to me, but I won and she came over.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hello to you, too." I'd kind of expected a little bit kinder of a greeting, but I guess I'd caught her off guard again.
"Is everything okay?" I was prepared for this question, considering no one thought in a million years I would come back unless I absolutely had to.
"You look nice." Okay, good, we're talking, and I was being very honest, she looked wonderful.
"Thank you. What are you doing here?"
"I moved back." Please say something positive.
"What?" Maybe she didn't hear me correctly or something. maybe she thought I said I needed a new pair of slacks.
"I moved back."
"But - what - why?" She heard me this time. She didn't sound thrilled.
"Just wanted to." Vague, always a good way to go. Leaves you feeling indifferent to the entire situation.
Let's just say that I didn't feel indifferent when she kissed me. It all happened so fast that I couldn't do anything. I tried to respond but by the time I was trying to get my arms around her, she had already pulled away. That's usually not a good sign.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Having a girl hysterically say "Oh my God!" isn't usually a good thing either.
"Rory." Okay, so it was a mistake. I can deal with that. We've got all summer to make mistakes.
"Don't say a word!" That hurt. I wanted to tell everyone. I wanted to shove this in Dean's face.
"Okay." She was backing away quickly now and it hurt me more with each step she took.
"I have to go." She turned around, looking like she was gonna twist her ankle in an effort to get away from me. "Oh, welcome home!"
She left me standing there with more to think about than the most award- winning book. I didn't get to talk to her that night like I'd hoped. She didn't come into the diner. She didn't come into the diner for a whole six weeks after that. I was so mad when I heard that she'd left without telling me. I didn't expect her to ask me to wait for her, or even for her to explain the kiss. I just figured she would try to evade the topic by talking about books with me. At least then we would have been talking. Now, we were far away in different states, and she probably hated me.
This is where I decided to go and be a total jerk. I went off and found one of the worst, sluttiest girls you can find in Stars Hollow, which were few and far between, and attempted to entertain myself with her. I tried to push Rory out of my head every time I kissed Shane, I tried to think that Shane was worth it, but Shane wasn't worth anything. She couldn't hold a damn candle to Rory.
Then, Rory came back. I'd been counting down the days. She came back on the same day as the Stars Hollow Summer Festival, the same day Shane wanted to make out in front of the entire town. I guess I went along with it, not realizing that Rory was gonna be there. I'd figured she'd want to hang out at home with her mom. I guess I guessed wrong. I'd hurt her, more than I had when I'd left, more than I had when I bought her basket, more than I ever had before.
That night, Luke had me go to Doose's for some mustard, or some stupid thing like that, which obviously could have waited until the next day, yet he insisted I go then. I ran into her there. I'd seen her come in and I tried to stay out of her way, but she came into my aisle. I had to talk to her.
"Doing a little shopping?"
"Yes. Excuse me." She tried to get away. I would have let her, except that the expression on her face killed me.
"Why the cold shoulder?"
"No cold shoulder. I just have perishables here." I looked in her basket and didn't see anything perishable. She wanted to get away from me as fast as she could.
"Oh yeah, you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad."
"My mom's waiting for me." I believed her on that. Lorelai was probably pressing her face against the window of the store, watching us talk, making sure I didn't hurt Rory.
"How was Washington?" Now I was the one who was hurt.
"Fine."
"Do anything interesting?" I'm not necessarily pestering, am I? I'm just curious.
"Nope."
"Okay." I planned to leave now, to get away before I did any more damage.
"What about you?" Maybe she was just being polite. Except that her tone didn't sound too polite, she sounded mad.
"What about me?"
"Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean." Ouch, she was being bold.
"Nope." I shrugged it off quickly.
"Really?"
"Really."
"So nothing happened this summer, at all?"
"It was hot. Two weeks ago there was a run on snowcones. Machine broke, people went crazy, Taylor tried to call in the National Guard, but." I went for the obvious, hoping she'd get annoyed and leave.
"I'm not talking about snowcones."
"What are you talking about then?"
"Nothing."
"Her name's Shane." She would have figured it out eventually.
"As in 'come back'?" That comment was actually, really funny, and I would have laughed under different circumstances.
"Yup."
"Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great." Three times a charm.
"So I've heard."
"Well, it is."
"Are you upset about something?"
"No."
"I mean, me and Shane." Yeah, this is the way to go. Drill it into her head until she will hate me for the rest of my life.
"What about you and Shane?"
"I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face." Did I expect it to?
"Well, I'm still freaked out about the, uh, snowcone machine."
"Okay.
"I could care less about you and Shane."
"Good."
"It just surprised me, that's all."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?" I suddenly feel like I am in kindergarten on the playground.
"Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding."
"Ah." A day I remember all too well.
"Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec." You leaving and not contacting me for six weeks threw me too!
"I'm sorry, did I hear from you at all this summer? Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me? You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything. . .very flattering, by the way. You go off to Washington. . . then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show." Wow, that all sounded better in my head that it did when it came out. Now, it just sounded harsh.
"When did you see me with Dean?"
"At that stupid summer insanity plea the town put on."
"Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face."
"You didn't answer me."
"About what?"
"Did you call me at all?" Maybe Luke didn't give me the message.
"No." Ouch.
"Did you send me a letter?" Postman lost them?
"No." Ouch again.
"Postcard?" Damn the mail service!
"No." Ouch.
"Smoke signal?" I probably wouldn't have been able to see it anyway.
"Stop." I wasn't quite done yet.
"A nice fruit basket?" Do they still deliver those if the fruit goes bad?
"Enough!" Wow, she sounded like my mom.
"Are you still with Dean? Come on, Rory, yes or no - are you still with Dean?" I was mad now. Every "ouch" had my temper increased another four notches. It was past recognition now.
"Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!" I don't think I've ever hurt this much before. I'm not mad, just very pained. My face shows it and I can tell, but I try to hold it back as much as I can.
"Glad to hear it."
"Glad to tell you."
"See you around."
"Whatever."
"Right back at ya."
So, that was our first encounter after six weeks. I'd say it went well, how bout you? I would take back a few things I said, but I meant most of them. The look on her face killed me. I think I came back for nothing. I don't think this can be fixed. I think I've screwed up past a salvageable point. I doubt if she'll talk to me for months. I stood there watching her leave with her mom for a few minutes; she never looked back, not once.
I went back to the diner after I'd paid for the goddamn mustard. I threw it on the counter along with Luke's change, and stomped upstairs. I grabbed my book from my nightstand and took the window fire escape back down to the street. Shane caught up with me halfway to my destination, but I shrugged her off and told her I needed to be alone. I'm not sure she understood me, but then again, I'm not sure she understands half the things I say. She left and that's all that's important.
I stalk off to the bridge and lay down in the middle. No one ever uses the bridge so I won't be in anyone's way. That's what I like about it the most. If people leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. It's how I've lived my life for seventeen years. It's a nice system but it leaves me lonely a lot. I don't think I've been this lonely in a while. I need to do something. I need to get Rory to talk to me again. Tolerate me again. She hates me. Oh God, she hates me.
(A/N: Hey! I hope you liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it. I got a review from the last chapter from someone who didn't enjoy the story so much. It always hurts to hear stuff like that, but I agreed with the reviewer. This story isn't mine really. I don't actually write that much. All I do is add in side comments. I tried to make this chapter more my own. I added in the side comments still, and I kept the dialogue the same, but I took out some parts and just described them. Then I added a little more to the end. I know I can't please everyone, and that's perfectly fine with me! I don't intend to! But I hope these changes made the story a little more exciting to read. If not, you might go read some of my other stories that don't take dialogue from the show. Thanks for reading and please review if you get a chance. ~Amanda)
Author: Sirius
Pairing: R/J
Summary: Jess thinks back over some of his best memories of Start Hollow.
After I let Rory go that day at the bus station, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I didn't even go track down my best friends in New York because I knew I wouldn't be staying long. I knew I had to go to back. Liz had no problem with it. At all. None. I'm not even sure she knew I'd ever come back. It was absolutely fine with me.
As soon as my bus arrived back in Stars Hollow, I took the back way into the dinner and rushed upstairs before anyone could see me. I hung out around up there until Luke came up to look for his leather ledger. He was surprised to see me, to say the very least, but after we argued for a bit, he agreed to let me stay. At that moment, he was my savior. He warned me not to go looking for Rory right now because she was still happily with Dean. Dean my ass.
I went to Sookie's wedding. I wasn't invited, per say, but I didn't stay for the ceremony so I figured that was still okay. I stayed down by the water, planning to just watch Rory. Then, she came walking up the path with her dad. From what I could see, his cell phone went off and she was left alone. She was about to walk back to the Inn when she saw me. I think she hesitated for a minute, debating whether or not to come talk to me, but I won and she came over.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hello to you, too." I'd kind of expected a little bit kinder of a greeting, but I guess I'd caught her off guard again.
"Is everything okay?" I was prepared for this question, considering no one thought in a million years I would come back unless I absolutely had to.
"You look nice." Okay, good, we're talking, and I was being very honest, she looked wonderful.
"Thank you. What are you doing here?"
"I moved back." Please say something positive.
"What?" Maybe she didn't hear me correctly or something. maybe she thought I said I needed a new pair of slacks.
"I moved back."
"But - what - why?" She heard me this time. She didn't sound thrilled.
"Just wanted to." Vague, always a good way to go. Leaves you feeling indifferent to the entire situation.
Let's just say that I didn't feel indifferent when she kissed me. It all happened so fast that I couldn't do anything. I tried to respond but by the time I was trying to get my arms around her, she had already pulled away. That's usually not a good sign.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Having a girl hysterically say "Oh my God!" isn't usually a good thing either.
"Rory." Okay, so it was a mistake. I can deal with that. We've got all summer to make mistakes.
"Don't say a word!" That hurt. I wanted to tell everyone. I wanted to shove this in Dean's face.
"Okay." She was backing away quickly now and it hurt me more with each step she took.
"I have to go." She turned around, looking like she was gonna twist her ankle in an effort to get away from me. "Oh, welcome home!"
She left me standing there with more to think about than the most award- winning book. I didn't get to talk to her that night like I'd hoped. She didn't come into the diner. She didn't come into the diner for a whole six weeks after that. I was so mad when I heard that she'd left without telling me. I didn't expect her to ask me to wait for her, or even for her to explain the kiss. I just figured she would try to evade the topic by talking about books with me. At least then we would have been talking. Now, we were far away in different states, and she probably hated me.
This is where I decided to go and be a total jerk. I went off and found one of the worst, sluttiest girls you can find in Stars Hollow, which were few and far between, and attempted to entertain myself with her. I tried to push Rory out of my head every time I kissed Shane, I tried to think that Shane was worth it, but Shane wasn't worth anything. She couldn't hold a damn candle to Rory.
Then, Rory came back. I'd been counting down the days. She came back on the same day as the Stars Hollow Summer Festival, the same day Shane wanted to make out in front of the entire town. I guess I went along with it, not realizing that Rory was gonna be there. I'd figured she'd want to hang out at home with her mom. I guess I guessed wrong. I'd hurt her, more than I had when I'd left, more than I had when I bought her basket, more than I ever had before.
That night, Luke had me go to Doose's for some mustard, or some stupid thing like that, which obviously could have waited until the next day, yet he insisted I go then. I ran into her there. I'd seen her come in and I tried to stay out of her way, but she came into my aisle. I had to talk to her.
"Doing a little shopping?"
"Yes. Excuse me." She tried to get away. I would have let her, except that the expression on her face killed me.
"Why the cold shoulder?"
"No cold shoulder. I just have perishables here." I looked in her basket and didn't see anything perishable. She wanted to get away from me as fast as she could.
"Oh yeah, you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad."
"My mom's waiting for me." I believed her on that. Lorelai was probably pressing her face against the window of the store, watching us talk, making sure I didn't hurt Rory.
"How was Washington?" Now I was the one who was hurt.
"Fine."
"Do anything interesting?" I'm not necessarily pestering, am I? I'm just curious.
"Nope."
"Okay." I planned to leave now, to get away before I did any more damage.
"What about you?" Maybe she was just being polite. Except that her tone didn't sound too polite, she sounded mad.
"What about me?"
"Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean." Ouch, she was being bold.
"Nope." I shrugged it off quickly.
"Really?"
"Really."
"So nothing happened this summer, at all?"
"It was hot. Two weeks ago there was a run on snowcones. Machine broke, people went crazy, Taylor tried to call in the National Guard, but." I went for the obvious, hoping she'd get annoyed and leave.
"I'm not talking about snowcones."
"What are you talking about then?"
"Nothing."
"Her name's Shane." She would have figured it out eventually.
"As in 'come back'?" That comment was actually, really funny, and I would have laughed under different circumstances.
"Yup."
"Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great." Three times a charm.
"So I've heard."
"Well, it is."
"Are you upset about something?"
"No."
"I mean, me and Shane." Yeah, this is the way to go. Drill it into her head until she will hate me for the rest of my life.
"What about you and Shane?"
"I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face." Did I expect it to?
"Well, I'm still freaked out about the, uh, snowcone machine."
"Okay.
"I could care less about you and Shane."
"Good."
"It just surprised me, that's all."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?" I suddenly feel like I am in kindergarten on the playground.
"Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding."
"Ah." A day I remember all too well.
"Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec." You leaving and not contacting me for six weeks threw me too!
"I'm sorry, did I hear from you at all this summer? Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me? You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything. . .very flattering, by the way. You go off to Washington. . . then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show." Wow, that all sounded better in my head that it did when it came out. Now, it just sounded harsh.
"When did you see me with Dean?"
"At that stupid summer insanity plea the town put on."
"Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face."
"You didn't answer me."
"About what?"
"Did you call me at all?" Maybe Luke didn't give me the message.
"No." Ouch.
"Did you send me a letter?" Postman lost them?
"No." Ouch again.
"Postcard?" Damn the mail service!
"No." Ouch.
"Smoke signal?" I probably wouldn't have been able to see it anyway.
"Stop." I wasn't quite done yet.
"A nice fruit basket?" Do they still deliver those if the fruit goes bad?
"Enough!" Wow, she sounded like my mom.
"Are you still with Dean? Come on, Rory, yes or no - are you still with Dean?" I was mad now. Every "ouch" had my temper increased another four notches. It was past recognition now.
"Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!" I don't think I've ever hurt this much before. I'm not mad, just very pained. My face shows it and I can tell, but I try to hold it back as much as I can.
"Glad to hear it."
"Glad to tell you."
"See you around."
"Whatever."
"Right back at ya."
So, that was our first encounter after six weeks. I'd say it went well, how bout you? I would take back a few things I said, but I meant most of them. The look on her face killed me. I think I came back for nothing. I don't think this can be fixed. I think I've screwed up past a salvageable point. I doubt if she'll talk to me for months. I stood there watching her leave with her mom for a few minutes; she never looked back, not once.
I went back to the diner after I'd paid for the goddamn mustard. I threw it on the counter along with Luke's change, and stomped upstairs. I grabbed my book from my nightstand and took the window fire escape back down to the street. Shane caught up with me halfway to my destination, but I shrugged her off and told her I needed to be alone. I'm not sure she understood me, but then again, I'm not sure she understands half the things I say. She left and that's all that's important.
I stalk off to the bridge and lay down in the middle. No one ever uses the bridge so I won't be in anyone's way. That's what I like about it the most. If people leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. It's how I've lived my life for seventeen years. It's a nice system but it leaves me lonely a lot. I don't think I've been this lonely in a while. I need to do something. I need to get Rory to talk to me again. Tolerate me again. She hates me. Oh God, she hates me.
(A/N: Hey! I hope you liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it. I got a review from the last chapter from someone who didn't enjoy the story so much. It always hurts to hear stuff like that, but I agreed with the reviewer. This story isn't mine really. I don't actually write that much. All I do is add in side comments. I tried to make this chapter more my own. I added in the side comments still, and I kept the dialogue the same, but I took out some parts and just described them. Then I added a little more to the end. I know I can't please everyone, and that's perfectly fine with me! I don't intend to! But I hope these changes made the story a little more exciting to read. If not, you might go read some of my other stories that don't take dialogue from the show. Thanks for reading and please review if you get a chance. ~Amanda)