*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.

*A/N: Hey!!! :-) Another week has passed, so I think I took more than enough time to write. Anyway I'll safe the rest of the chitchat for at the end of this chapter. Don't forget to read it, cause it contains a semi important message. Hope ya don't think it's too......mushy.

*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)

Rory couldn't contain the shriek that had been tickling her vocal cords, forcing her to open her mouth and letting it reach the ears of the few people around her, who were quickly making their way home, as she and her mom made their way towards Luke's while the rain cascaded down on them and drowned out the rest of the world. Although she had to fight the urge to smile at the same time. Like some people loved the spring and the large variety of flowers that came with it, she loved this kind of stormy weather and all the rain that came pouring down with it. This was the kind of weather that made the rooms darker than they normally were, giving them a gloomy facade, as the wind haunted through Stars Hollow.

But she had to admit that she was relieved when they closed the door of the diner behind them as they entered their sanctuary, which they retreated to daily. Especially on days like this, since her mom always became restless during this sort of weather. She couldn't seem to manage to sit still and she was always a couple of steps behind Rory wherever she went. Luckily for the both of them, there was Luke's. Rory smiled, as she took of her jeans jacket, revealing her damp shirt. Though she and her mom had a lot in common, she didn't even want to understand how someone could be afraid of a comfortably somber day like this.

''You two are dripping,'' came Luke's rough voice from behind the counter, though he didn't mean it as a comment that should be taken seriously. Of course Lorelai always did, that was part of her charm.

''That sounded so wrong. Tell me that didn't sound wrong,'' Lorelai commented, the last part meant for Rory.

''In your twisted mind maybe.''

''I'll take that as a compliment,'' Lorelai said, as she handed Rory her jacket, before heading over to the counter.

Rory softly laughed at her mom's and Luke's usual banter. Her day wouldn't be the same without it. As she hung her mom's coat next to hers on the unstable coat rack, though she would never mention that to Luke, she spotted Jess out of the corner of her eyes. She immediately reached for her back pocket, hoping that the book she had borrowed from him wasn't drenched. She let out a silent sigh of relief when she ran her hands over the still dry cover of the paperback. She took the book out of her pocket and started for the counter, finally noticing the deck of cards that he was holding in his hands. When she finally thought she had him covered, he ended up surprising her once again. She was expecting him to be reading, since his shelves were filled with more books than their local library. But of course she should have figured that she would have been wrong about that, since she had only just figured out about his large book collection. Yesterday afternoon to be exact. She had gone through every single one of them, while Jess remained silent on the couch behind her, reading. The thing that she had seen in almost every book, on practically every page, were his notes. They were written crookedly in the margins. And though she wasn't a fan of writing in books, the notes had helped her understand the book better. And more importantly it gave her a look inside his mind.

By the time she reached the counter, her mom had already managed to pry a cup of coffee away from Luke, though only her mom seemed to have that problem day in and day out.

''Hey Luke,'' she greeted, as she sat down and forgetfully placed Jess' paperback on the counter in front of her.

Luke nodded at her. ''Coffee ?''

Rory wanted to say yes, but Luke didn't give her the chance to, as he placed a cup of black coffee in front of her. She pulled the sleeves of her shirt down, to cover up her hands with them and reached for the cup. As she lifted it up and brought it to her lips, she caught Jess looking at her. That small gesture caused her to lower her gaze shyly to her coffee, before taking a sip. As the warm liquid found its way down her throat, it gave her the few seconds she needed to calm her nerves and put the cup down without shaking hands.

''Is that my book ?'' Jess asked, referring to the old looking copy in front of Rory.

Rory's eyes briefly rested upon his book, before she looked up at him. ''Are those cards ?''

''Aren't we the observant ones today.''

Rory smiled and pushed the book in his direction. ''Thanks for lending it to me.''

Jess shrugged, not looking at the book. Instead he focused his attention on the cards that he was now shuffling. ''It's not like I don't have any more books upstairs.'' A light smirk touched his face before he continued. ''So, what did you think of it ?''

''It was.............acceptable.''

''Acceptable ?'' Jess asked, as he raised an eyebrow.

''Hey, the author is unknown and it's about love,'' Rory said, matter of factly, as she emphasized the last word. ''......one of the most common and unoriginal subjects to write about.''

''Yeah, but you have to admit that the story itself is fairly well written.''

''I'll admit that. Though there were some dreadful cliched parts in it talking about how love was blind etc, very unoriginal,'' Rory pointed out.

Jess nodded. ''I agree now..........'' He stopped shuffling his deck of cards and held them out like a fan. ''........pick a card.''

Rory rolled her eyes, but did take a card out of the displayed deck.

''What is it ?''

Rory looked down at her card. ''Aren't I supposed to ask that ?''

''I'm still practicing on the whole guessing part, so I changed the rules a little,'' Jess explained.

''It's the queen of.........clovers ?''

''Luck will be on your side,'' Jess said, as he took the card from Rory.

''That's it ? I pick a card and instead of guessing you quote something medieval as if I'm going off to battle.''

''No, I just told you that luck will be on your side these upcoming days.''

''That was so..................sweet,'' Rory hesitantly said.

Jess cringed. ''Sweet ?''

''Yep.''

''Must be the weather.''

''Yeah.........,'' Rory said, as she moved her gaze over to one of the windows.

When she brought her eyes back to Jess, there was a secretive gleam in his eyes, and she understood what he was silently asking her. And it caused the butterflies in her stomach to flutter.

''I didn't bring a jacket, well I did, my jeans jacket and even though jacket is in the name........it isn't the appropriate one to wear during............''

Jess amusedly shook his head. ''I have an extra jacket.''

They exchanged a small smile, before Rory got up. ''Mom, is it okay if me and Jess go outside for a while ?''

Meanwhile Jess just got his ball from underneath the counter and headed for the coat rack.

Luke jumped in, before Lorelai could say anything. ''Last time it was okay, because it was just a light drizzle, but........''

''Light drizzle ?''

Luke ignored Lorelai and finished his sentence, moving his gaze from Rory to Jess and back. ''.....but today it's pouring.''

''Huh, and here I thought is was just a bigger drizzle,'' Jess said, as he put on his jacked and waited for Rory.

''Is it okay mom ?''

Lorelai nodded, quickly sharing a knowing look with her daughter. One that look wouldn't get. ''Sure, sweets. I'll just wrap you up in a big blanket when you get home and Luke will do the same for Jess.''

Luke grimaced, which just made the two Gilmore Girls smile.

''Thanks mom.''

Rory hastily kissed her mom on her cheek and headed over to Jess, who threw a jacket at her as soon as she was close enough. Jess couldn't help but smile as he watched Rory put on his faded brown leather jacket. It was a little big, but since she wore baggy clothes most of the time, it didn't make her look any different.

It was weird, seeing a girl wearing his jacket, he had to admit, but then again Rory wasn't just another girl. She didn't wear his jacket because she wanted to show off to others that she was with him, like some of his girlfriends had done, making him feel like a walking trophy. She was just wearing it, because it would protect her from the rain. Jess zipped up his jacket with his free hand, before opening the door. After she stepped outside, he followed.

*~*~*

''Jess, can I ask you something ?'' Rory asked, as she retrieved the ball from the ground once again.

When she turned around, Jess was only a couple of steps away, closer than she remembered.

''I can't assure you that'll answer,'' he answered quizzically.

Rory studied his eyes as he said this, to her surprise they weren't clouded at all. No secrets were kept hidden, not in his answer anyway.

''Where did you learn to play basketball ? I mean, I know you're from New York, so obviously I don't need to know that, but how old were you when you started playing ?''

''Eleven,'' he answered, without thinking about it.

Rory got a satisfied gleam in her eyes that she couldn't hide from Jess and even if she could, the smile on her face still gave her away.

''What ?'' Jess asked.

''I was younger when I discovered the game,'' she stated proudly.

Jess smiled at her childish behavior, though there was a certain maturity to the way she said those last four words; I discovered the game. ''I figured that by the way you know your way around the court.''

''Thank you.''

Rory smiled again, only there was a slight difference to this one. Her smile was slightly crooked and......sweeter. Rory found his eyes with hers and nervously wiped a strand of hair away from her face, but not breaking eye contact until Jess moved closer towards her. Suddenly a grin broke through on her face, making the rain seem to disappear in Jess' eyes.

''I think I'll take my rain check now,'' Rory said, her soft voice having an amused edge to it.

She looked up at Jess, trying to see if he knew what she meant. It didn't take long for the recognition to flicker in his dark eyes.

''Yeah, coffee it is. Besides the diner is much warmer.''

''And more dry.''

Rory ran her hand over her face, trying to stop the water from dripping down onto her clothes, but it was an useless action. As she removed her hand, Jess automatically laid his eyes upon her drenched lips, that were tempting him in his eyes.

''What ?'' Rory asked, catching his gaze.

Jess shrugged. ''Nothing.''

Rory unsurely lowered her head, which gave Jess the momentary opportunity to lean in slightly and swiftly catch her lips with his. He noticed her shock as she quickly lifted her head a couple of inches, parting their lips, briefly, because Jess just took another step forward and lightly pressed his lips upon hers once more. A kiss, he hoped, that would make her feel more comfortable.

As he let his lips rest against hers, he reached for her waist, letting one of his hands gently rest upon one of her hips. While he did this, he prayed that she wouldn't pull away, cause this was the move he had been waiting to make ever since he knew that Dean wasn't even an option for her anymore. How could he tell Rory that she wasn't his type. If the guy would have opened his eyes to look at what had been standing within his reach, he would have been mourning now over his tragic loss.

Suddenly he could feel Rory responding to his touch, her lips started to carefully explore his and he fought the urge to smile, not wanting to ruin this moment between them. He could tell that she hadn't done something like this before, but he didn't care. He was just glad that Dean hadn't gotten the chance to share this with her, no matter how jealous it sounded.

He wanted to be even closer to her, but the basketball Rory was holding in her hands was restraining him to do so. So, he removed his hand from his hips and reached for the ball with his hands. She let him take it out of her hands without resisting, but as soon as Jess dropped the ball on the ground, her eyes flew open and he knew that there was something wrong. Almost instantly he felt her body tense up and before he could reach for her hand, she had taken a couple of steps back and broke the closeness they were chained to earlier.

''I'm sorry, I don't........''

''It's okay,'' he said, not making an attempt to move towards her, knowing that it would only make her more panicked and would increase the confusion that was clearly visible in her moonlit eyes.

''No, it's not. I shouldn't have. I.......I have to go.''

She turned around and ran, choosing to ignore the way his eyes had hardened at her spilled words.

*R*E*V*I*E*W*! Please ? :-) If I would have gone with my normal plot, I would have written a totally different chapter than I did now, cause it would have been the last one. But besides the one you have witnessed in this chapter, I still have one more trick to reveal. If you want to see it, of course. :-) *Thanks again for the encouraging and inspiring reviews!*