Author: Scarlettmarch

Story: A Realization

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs solely to Dorothy Parker Drank Here, the WB, and Amy Sherman-Palladino. Don't sue me. Oh, and the song title isn't mine either, it's the name of a Live song, which you should all listen to because it's amazing.

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! They make me so incredibly happy. Well, here goes nothing:

I Alone

The rustle and crunch of the leaves underneath her feet blocked out everything except the sound of her thoughts. Rory was contemplating that, undoubtedly, the worst part of her predicament was not being able to tell her mother what was going on in her life. Rory was not a born actress, and it took most of her concentration to carefully conceal her feelings when they walked into Luke's, or saw Jess and his girlfriend together, whose name she had found out through town gossip was Shane.

Meandering throughout the streets of Stars Hollow, Rory's feet unconsciously took her in the direction of the bridge. She had avoided it at all costs since she had returned from Washington, D.C. The bridge had never really meant anything at all to her before Jess had picked Shane over her, but since then, as she had spent a great deal of time agonizing over every memory of the two of them, Rory and Jess, together, she realized that her fondest memories were set there. And it was altogether too painful for her to be there alone, without him.

Seeing the well-worn wooden planks that she knew so well under her feet, she acknowledged that she had arrived at the bridge. Looking up at the sky, she realized that although it was only mid-afternoon, the sky was darkening, and only a few rays of sunlight shone through the boughs of the trees, illuminating the area surrounding the bridge in a slightly surreal light.

Then, as she was lowering her eyes to the ground, she saw him.

The wind had picked up on her way over, and Rory supposed that he hadn't heard the sound of her footsteps. He was sitting only a few feet away from her, intently staring at a page of a thick book, rapidly underlining passages and scrawling tiny, tight comments in the margins. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he had ever brought Shane here.

She turned around quietly, as to not bring attention to herself, and walked away. Then, as she was stepping off the bridge, she stepped on a wishbone shaped twig, which cracked loudly in half, similar to the sound of thunder during a storm.

"Rory," Jess said loudly, startled at the disturbance that she had caused.

"Um, hi, I didn't know you were here. I'll leave now," Rory muttered quickly, cursing her luck under her breath.

He answered just as swiftly, and just as coldly, "It's okay, I should be going anyway, you can stay," and he rose and started walking in the direction of the diner.

Rory had already turned around and started walking towards her house, but Jess's long strides caught him up next to her. Rory noticed him besides her, and told him again that he could stay at the bridge.

He looked at her sidelong, and nodded, yet continuing to walk in her direction. Rory imagined grabbing the back of his head, covered in brown hair mussed up by the wind, and kissing him hard, like she had done at Sookie's wedding. Politely, she did nothing of the sort.

Looking at her nose and cheeks, reddened by the cold, he had to concentrate on the image of his girlfriend to resist kissing Rory like he had wanted to all summer, until her letter had come.

Coincidentally, Rory was also thinking of the letter, specifically the mood that had brought her out of bed to write it. Then, she had thought that that was the loneliest time in the entire world. Now, she knew better, and realized that the time on the clock had nothing to do with how lonely you felt.

Nothing could be lonelier, no matter the time, than being this close to the person you love, yet being so far away, really.

If Jess had been able to read her mind, no doubt he would have agreed with those sentiments. As it was, he was concentrating on her audible shivers that she was emitting every few minutes as they continued their walk towards town, and watching her grab her thin coat to her body.

Silently, without saying a word, he slipped out of his own blue jacket, and placed it around her shoulders. Rory was warmed instantly, but she didn't know whether that was from the extra weight of his jacket or the brush of his hands against her body. She whispered thanks, and he nodded again.

After a few more minutes of silent walking, they reached Rory's house. They faced each other, a lonely ray of light striking upon both of their faces. Holding each other's glance for what seemed like eternity to both of them, Rory tilted her head slightly, and asked stiltedly, "What happened to us?"

Then, she turned and fled, leaving Jess to stare at her back in wonderment, still covered by his jacket, and then, the door.

*Sorry this took so long. I'll most probably update again this weekend if not sooner. Please REVIEW, and tell me what you think!