*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I
own is my imagination and the plot.
*A/N: Hey! :-) I'm officially 16 now, which honestly doesn't feel any different than 15, but if I had turned 17 it would have felt different than 15. I'm making now sense, I know, so just ignore me and go read. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :-)
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)
Rory sighed, relieved that her last period for today had finally reached the end of its tormenting road. Lately every minute seemed to stretch itself into a couple more, not granting her the satisfaction of escaping this classroom, where Jess was only sitting a couple of seats away from her. Apparently he had decided that actually participating in school was a lot more informative than hanging outside, smoking. Though she applauded him for his random decision, she still felt a little threatened by his behavior these passed days. She had caught him openly staring at her, like he was silently telling her that though he wasn't verbally announcing his presence to her, he was still here and wouldn't just disappear when she chose to close her eyes.
Every time she saw him in the hallway, she thought about how she behaved towards him, losing her courage to approach him. Promising herself that she would have the courage to do it the next time she ran into him, since she knew that she wouldn't catch him alone that often. He had started spending even more time with his so called friends, and this time, he didn't do anything when they all looked her way and made hurtful comments. She met his glance during one of these often reoccurring times, hoping to find the knot of guilt, that would be resting at the pit off his stomach, but instead she saw nothing but the dark pools of his evident uncaring eyes, which made her angry and sad at the same time. How could he be mad at her, when she had told him that she liked hanging out with him, more than she would ever admit. She practically confessed to him that she was scared and that she didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations, because she had never been in it before. Not even with Dean. On the other hand, she knew that it had to be frustrating for him, because he was probably used to getting a much different response than she had given him.
Rory collected her stuff and disappeared out of the classroom, thinking that no one would even notice. A quick glance was thrown her way, as Jess threw his stuff into his bag. At first he had stolen glances at her when he had thought she wasn't looking, not wanting to burden her with his existence even more. But after the first day, he had gotten sick of her childish behavior and frustrating fear. Now he was temporarily morphing into one of those guys she hated. He patiently waited for her to leave the classroom, before heading towards the door, taking a rolled up paperback out off his back-pocket.
*~*~*
Rory let a defeated smile cross paths with her lips, when she saw Lane standing by her locker. ''Hey.''
Lane nodded, the cheerful smile that had been clinging to her lips faltering. ''Things are still tense between Jess and you ?''
Rory shrugged, as she opened up her locker. ''How can things be tense when we're not even talking to each other anymore ?''
''Uhm.......I'm not questioning your intelligence here, but isn't the no talking thing the way you sense that things are different between you two ? Therefor tense ?''
Rory stopped going through her locker long enough to shoot Lane a look.
''Okay, so I was doubting your observing skills,'' Lane admitted. ''But I was just..........''
''I know, trying to make your point.''
''Yep, looking out for you. So, things aren't even a tiny bit better ?'' Lane asked, always trying to look for the smallest hint of color, which would eventually lead her to a rainbow.
Rory sighed. ''He stopped staring at me when he thought I wasn't looking.''
''Well, that's good.''
''Yeah, cause now he's just openly staring at me. Much better,'' Rory said, sounding sadder than she meant to.
''That boy has really gotten to you, hasn't he ?''
Rory shook her head. ''I just don't like being in fights with people.''
She was partly telling the truth. It was as if she had truly lost one of her best friends. When really she only knew Jess a couple of weeks. But she knew that there had been something between them ever since they met. A certain connection. And the thing that she really hated was the face that she was letting him get to her.
''Yeah, I know,'' Lane said, while putting her arm around Rory's shoulders as a comforting gesture. ''You two will get over this.''
''Whatever you say.''
''No seriously, before you know it you two will be playing baske........,'' Lane said, stopping mid-sentence, her eyes caught by something distracting. Rory followed her gaze and noticed the scene that was starting to unfold only a couple of feet away from where they were standing.
''Jess! Hey, Jess! ''
Jess looked up from his book, not hiding the expression of bored annoyance on his face. His eyes immediately found the girl that voice belonged to. She seemed vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn't taste her name on his lips just yet. And he doubted that he wanted to, since the most people he had met weren't worth getting to know. Not even their name. But when he saw Rory's broken expression out of the corner of his eyes, he knew that he had discovered a way to show her that he wasn't going to wait for her to sort her feelings out forever. So, he did a double take and waited for the girl to reach him, taking in her delicate figure and long strands of golden hair as she headed his way. She was definitely someone you wouldn't just forget to notice.
''Hey, thanks for waiting for me. I'm Michelle,'' she said, once she had reached him. ''I introduced myself to you during lunch, well my friends actually did, but I wanted to apologize for that. They aren't the most subtle people around.''
''I was actually glad that they introduced you to me,'' Jess automatically responded, remembering one of his old lines.
''You're kidding ? Cause that was what I was thinking too.''
Jess saw the seductive looking smile on her face, making it obvious to him that she was indeed flirting. He shot her a sly smirk. ''Guess we were thinking the same thing.''
''It sure seems so. Anyway, I noticed that during classes you don't actually participate, but that you read instead. Why ?''
''I'm afraid that I won't be able to give you a satisfying answer,'' Jess answered, not even caring if she was truly interested or not.
''Why not ?''
''Cause it would probably take too long.''
''Well, just for the record, I've got time,'' Michelle hinted.
''Oh yeah ?''
Michelle nodded and twirled a piece of hair around her finger, slightly tilting her head as she did this. It was a coy gesture, one that didn't make her look shy or sweet, but quite the opposite.
''Do you still have any more classes ?''
''Yeah, but I would much rather spend time with you,'' Michelle flirted.
Jess nodded and headed for the school's exit, stuffing his book in his pocket. Michelle followed him, like a stray dog.
''Jerk,'' Lane murmured, before looking at her best friend. ''You okay ?''
Rory bit her lip and shook her head, watching both Jess and Michelle disappear through the doors, before burying her head on Lane's shoulder. ''This is the worst day I have ever experienced.''
*~*~*
Rory closed her door and turned around catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, before heading over to her bed. Compared to Michelle she was really a nobody. Before her head even reached her pillow, her eyes found the blue streak of sky that was visible through her window. Normally she would spend the rest of the afternoon at the basketball court, but since she never knew if Jess would be there or not, she hadn't played ball for the last few days. It was pathetic that she was scared of him, of the way his eyes would narrow when he saw her and the intensity that could be seen in them. Rory sighed, feeling restless, because of the conclusion her mind was close to coming to. And after a couple of more minutes, the decision had been made.
*~*~*
Luke didn't ask any questions, when she had told him that she needed to talk to Jess. He had just nodded in the direction of the stairs without saying anything. Now that Rory was standing in front of their apartment, she was losing her confidence, desperately clinging to it as it was slipping through her fingers.
She knocked on the door, but got no response. It was then that she got the urge to turn back, cause no one could say that she hadn't tried, but instead she knocked on the door again. Louder this time.
This time she did hear footsteps approach the door and she saw his figure through the glass. When the door opened, it revealed a tousled looking Jess. At first she couldn't detect the reason of his unbuttoned shirt and messed up air. But when she spotted the lipstick at the corner of his lips, it became painfully clear to her.
''Jess, who's that ?''
Before the sentence was even finished, Michelle appeared in Rory's range of sight, giving her the opportunity to notice her smudged lipstick and partly undone shirt.
''A friend,'' Jess said over his shoulder, before looking at Rory once more. ''What do you want ?''
Rory was surprised by the harshness of his voice, not really understanding why he had to be so hurtful towards her.
''Nothing,'' she softly said, regretting her decision to come here. ''I'm sorry.''
Those were the last words Rory uttered, before turning around and heading down the stairs as fast as she could.
*~*~*
Rory headed straight for the bridge, not willing to risk the chance of running into her mom at home. Though tears weren't flowing, the hurt was definitely there. Just the fact that Jess took a girl he hardly knew home with him made her feel more invidious than she ever did. What made Michelle so special ? What made her stand out from all those other girls ? And although she wanted to hate Michelle, she couldn't find any legitimate reasons, besides the fact that she had apparently captured Jess' heart.
She was on the verge of crying, but forbid herself to let even one tear spill, as she heard those too familiar footsteps step onto the bridge, making it shift underneath their weight. As she felt him sit down next to her, she knew that she had to be the first to say something, before he could hurt her more than he had already done.
''So, that's what it's going to be like ?'' Rory asked, already knowing that this hadn't been a good choice of words, since the amount of comebacks were endless.
''You wanted to be friends,'' Jess pointed out, ignoring the fragileness of her voice. ''And since friends just occasionally hang, I can date whomever I want.''
''She's your girlfriend ?'' Rory asked, as cracks were starting to appear in her voice.
Jess shrugged, focusing his gaze on the water which lay underneath the bridge, purposely pretending as if he hadn't noticed the state she was in.
''Not yet, but I'm working on it.''
Rory nodded and started to get up, but Jess's arm flew upwards and his fingers locked around her arm. He pulled her back down. ''What ? Tell me why your upset ?''
Though it sounded as if he was begging her to tell him how she was feeling, there was nothing pleasing in the tone which held his voice.
''I'm not upset,'' Rory whispered, as she lowered her eyes.
Jess tightened his grip. ''Liar.'' He was slowly forcing her to break. Daring her to cry, get mad or even yell at him. All he wanted was to hear from her that she was jealous, no matter how unfair that seemed. He had been patient with her for as long as he could. And today his patience had become too thin to stand on anymore. He wanted to know what was going on inside her head and what emotions were hidden behind the blue drapes of her eyes.
''Fine,'' Rory said, giving in to his demand. She pulled her arm free and met his eyes. ''You wanna know why I'm upset ? It's because I don't like Michelle and I can't even tell you why. I don't even know if she's nice or not. All I know is that ever since I saw you two together I have had this weird feeling inside of me that I can't place.''
''Jealousy ?'' Jess offered.
''What ?''
''You're jealous,'' Jess stated.
''No, I mean, why ? We're just friends, right ?''
Although Rory's imploring words were tempting him, he didn't answer. That was all she needed to know. Rory bit her lip and blinked away her first tear, as she got up and started to head for the other end of the bridge. She was so caught up in fighting her tears, that she didn't hear him get up.
''Rory......,'' Jess said, making her turn around. ''Are you okay ?''
She found his eyes, before calmly responding. ''I don't know. You're so frustrating. I don't know what or how to feel when I'm around you.''
Jess moved closer, taking in every word. When he was close enough to touch her, he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a hug, reassuring her that she didn't have to worry anymore.
When Rory felt the fabric of his shirt against her cheek, she couldn't help but smile.
''Jess, I really like you.''
*R*E*V*I*E*W*! Please ? :-) I know a bit touchy-feely, mushy, whatever........, but at least they're together, right ? Anyway, I think there will be one more chapter and then this story will be finito. Thanks for the reviews, once again!!! :-)
*A/N: Hey! :-) I'm officially 16 now, which honestly doesn't feel any different than 15, but if I had turned 17 it would have felt different than 15. I'm making now sense, I know, so just ignore me and go read. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :-)
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)
Rory sighed, relieved that her last period for today had finally reached the end of its tormenting road. Lately every minute seemed to stretch itself into a couple more, not granting her the satisfaction of escaping this classroom, where Jess was only sitting a couple of seats away from her. Apparently he had decided that actually participating in school was a lot more informative than hanging outside, smoking. Though she applauded him for his random decision, she still felt a little threatened by his behavior these passed days. She had caught him openly staring at her, like he was silently telling her that though he wasn't verbally announcing his presence to her, he was still here and wouldn't just disappear when she chose to close her eyes.
Every time she saw him in the hallway, she thought about how she behaved towards him, losing her courage to approach him. Promising herself that she would have the courage to do it the next time she ran into him, since she knew that she wouldn't catch him alone that often. He had started spending even more time with his so called friends, and this time, he didn't do anything when they all looked her way and made hurtful comments. She met his glance during one of these often reoccurring times, hoping to find the knot of guilt, that would be resting at the pit off his stomach, but instead she saw nothing but the dark pools of his evident uncaring eyes, which made her angry and sad at the same time. How could he be mad at her, when she had told him that she liked hanging out with him, more than she would ever admit. She practically confessed to him that she was scared and that she didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations, because she had never been in it before. Not even with Dean. On the other hand, she knew that it had to be frustrating for him, because he was probably used to getting a much different response than she had given him.
Rory collected her stuff and disappeared out of the classroom, thinking that no one would even notice. A quick glance was thrown her way, as Jess threw his stuff into his bag. At first he had stolen glances at her when he had thought she wasn't looking, not wanting to burden her with his existence even more. But after the first day, he had gotten sick of her childish behavior and frustrating fear. Now he was temporarily morphing into one of those guys she hated. He patiently waited for her to leave the classroom, before heading towards the door, taking a rolled up paperback out off his back-pocket.
*~*~*
Rory let a defeated smile cross paths with her lips, when she saw Lane standing by her locker. ''Hey.''
Lane nodded, the cheerful smile that had been clinging to her lips faltering. ''Things are still tense between Jess and you ?''
Rory shrugged, as she opened up her locker. ''How can things be tense when we're not even talking to each other anymore ?''
''Uhm.......I'm not questioning your intelligence here, but isn't the no talking thing the way you sense that things are different between you two ? Therefor tense ?''
Rory stopped going through her locker long enough to shoot Lane a look.
''Okay, so I was doubting your observing skills,'' Lane admitted. ''But I was just..........''
''I know, trying to make your point.''
''Yep, looking out for you. So, things aren't even a tiny bit better ?'' Lane asked, always trying to look for the smallest hint of color, which would eventually lead her to a rainbow.
Rory sighed. ''He stopped staring at me when he thought I wasn't looking.''
''Well, that's good.''
''Yeah, cause now he's just openly staring at me. Much better,'' Rory said, sounding sadder than she meant to.
''That boy has really gotten to you, hasn't he ?''
Rory shook her head. ''I just don't like being in fights with people.''
She was partly telling the truth. It was as if she had truly lost one of her best friends. When really she only knew Jess a couple of weeks. But she knew that there had been something between them ever since they met. A certain connection. And the thing that she really hated was the face that she was letting him get to her.
''Yeah, I know,'' Lane said, while putting her arm around Rory's shoulders as a comforting gesture. ''You two will get over this.''
''Whatever you say.''
''No seriously, before you know it you two will be playing baske........,'' Lane said, stopping mid-sentence, her eyes caught by something distracting. Rory followed her gaze and noticed the scene that was starting to unfold only a couple of feet away from where they were standing.
''Jess! Hey, Jess! ''
Jess looked up from his book, not hiding the expression of bored annoyance on his face. His eyes immediately found the girl that voice belonged to. She seemed vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn't taste her name on his lips just yet. And he doubted that he wanted to, since the most people he had met weren't worth getting to know. Not even their name. But when he saw Rory's broken expression out of the corner of his eyes, he knew that he had discovered a way to show her that he wasn't going to wait for her to sort her feelings out forever. So, he did a double take and waited for the girl to reach him, taking in her delicate figure and long strands of golden hair as she headed his way. She was definitely someone you wouldn't just forget to notice.
''Hey, thanks for waiting for me. I'm Michelle,'' she said, once she had reached him. ''I introduced myself to you during lunch, well my friends actually did, but I wanted to apologize for that. They aren't the most subtle people around.''
''I was actually glad that they introduced you to me,'' Jess automatically responded, remembering one of his old lines.
''You're kidding ? Cause that was what I was thinking too.''
Jess saw the seductive looking smile on her face, making it obvious to him that she was indeed flirting. He shot her a sly smirk. ''Guess we were thinking the same thing.''
''It sure seems so. Anyway, I noticed that during classes you don't actually participate, but that you read instead. Why ?''
''I'm afraid that I won't be able to give you a satisfying answer,'' Jess answered, not even caring if she was truly interested or not.
''Why not ?''
''Cause it would probably take too long.''
''Well, just for the record, I've got time,'' Michelle hinted.
''Oh yeah ?''
Michelle nodded and twirled a piece of hair around her finger, slightly tilting her head as she did this. It was a coy gesture, one that didn't make her look shy or sweet, but quite the opposite.
''Do you still have any more classes ?''
''Yeah, but I would much rather spend time with you,'' Michelle flirted.
Jess nodded and headed for the school's exit, stuffing his book in his pocket. Michelle followed him, like a stray dog.
''Jerk,'' Lane murmured, before looking at her best friend. ''You okay ?''
Rory bit her lip and shook her head, watching both Jess and Michelle disappear through the doors, before burying her head on Lane's shoulder. ''This is the worst day I have ever experienced.''
*~*~*
Rory closed her door and turned around catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, before heading over to her bed. Compared to Michelle she was really a nobody. Before her head even reached her pillow, her eyes found the blue streak of sky that was visible through her window. Normally she would spend the rest of the afternoon at the basketball court, but since she never knew if Jess would be there or not, she hadn't played ball for the last few days. It was pathetic that she was scared of him, of the way his eyes would narrow when he saw her and the intensity that could be seen in them. Rory sighed, feeling restless, because of the conclusion her mind was close to coming to. And after a couple of more minutes, the decision had been made.
*~*~*
Luke didn't ask any questions, when she had told him that she needed to talk to Jess. He had just nodded in the direction of the stairs without saying anything. Now that Rory was standing in front of their apartment, she was losing her confidence, desperately clinging to it as it was slipping through her fingers.
She knocked on the door, but got no response. It was then that she got the urge to turn back, cause no one could say that she hadn't tried, but instead she knocked on the door again. Louder this time.
This time she did hear footsteps approach the door and she saw his figure through the glass. When the door opened, it revealed a tousled looking Jess. At first she couldn't detect the reason of his unbuttoned shirt and messed up air. But when she spotted the lipstick at the corner of his lips, it became painfully clear to her.
''Jess, who's that ?''
Before the sentence was even finished, Michelle appeared in Rory's range of sight, giving her the opportunity to notice her smudged lipstick and partly undone shirt.
''A friend,'' Jess said over his shoulder, before looking at Rory once more. ''What do you want ?''
Rory was surprised by the harshness of his voice, not really understanding why he had to be so hurtful towards her.
''Nothing,'' she softly said, regretting her decision to come here. ''I'm sorry.''
Those were the last words Rory uttered, before turning around and heading down the stairs as fast as she could.
*~*~*
Rory headed straight for the bridge, not willing to risk the chance of running into her mom at home. Though tears weren't flowing, the hurt was definitely there. Just the fact that Jess took a girl he hardly knew home with him made her feel more invidious than she ever did. What made Michelle so special ? What made her stand out from all those other girls ? And although she wanted to hate Michelle, she couldn't find any legitimate reasons, besides the fact that she had apparently captured Jess' heart.
She was on the verge of crying, but forbid herself to let even one tear spill, as she heard those too familiar footsteps step onto the bridge, making it shift underneath their weight. As she felt him sit down next to her, she knew that she had to be the first to say something, before he could hurt her more than he had already done.
''So, that's what it's going to be like ?'' Rory asked, already knowing that this hadn't been a good choice of words, since the amount of comebacks were endless.
''You wanted to be friends,'' Jess pointed out, ignoring the fragileness of her voice. ''And since friends just occasionally hang, I can date whomever I want.''
''She's your girlfriend ?'' Rory asked, as cracks were starting to appear in her voice.
Jess shrugged, focusing his gaze on the water which lay underneath the bridge, purposely pretending as if he hadn't noticed the state she was in.
''Not yet, but I'm working on it.''
Rory nodded and started to get up, but Jess's arm flew upwards and his fingers locked around her arm. He pulled her back down. ''What ? Tell me why your upset ?''
Though it sounded as if he was begging her to tell him how she was feeling, there was nothing pleasing in the tone which held his voice.
''I'm not upset,'' Rory whispered, as she lowered her eyes.
Jess tightened his grip. ''Liar.'' He was slowly forcing her to break. Daring her to cry, get mad or even yell at him. All he wanted was to hear from her that she was jealous, no matter how unfair that seemed. He had been patient with her for as long as he could. And today his patience had become too thin to stand on anymore. He wanted to know what was going on inside her head and what emotions were hidden behind the blue drapes of her eyes.
''Fine,'' Rory said, giving in to his demand. She pulled her arm free and met his eyes. ''You wanna know why I'm upset ? It's because I don't like Michelle and I can't even tell you why. I don't even know if she's nice or not. All I know is that ever since I saw you two together I have had this weird feeling inside of me that I can't place.''
''Jealousy ?'' Jess offered.
''What ?''
''You're jealous,'' Jess stated.
''No, I mean, why ? We're just friends, right ?''
Although Rory's imploring words were tempting him, he didn't answer. That was all she needed to know. Rory bit her lip and blinked away her first tear, as she got up and started to head for the other end of the bridge. She was so caught up in fighting her tears, that she didn't hear him get up.
''Rory......,'' Jess said, making her turn around. ''Are you okay ?''
She found his eyes, before calmly responding. ''I don't know. You're so frustrating. I don't know what or how to feel when I'm around you.''
Jess moved closer, taking in every word. When he was close enough to touch her, he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a hug, reassuring her that she didn't have to worry anymore.
When Rory felt the fabric of his shirt against her cheek, she couldn't help but smile.
''Jess, I really like you.''
*R*E*V*I*E*W*! Please ? :-) I know a bit touchy-feely, mushy, whatever........, but at least they're together, right ? Anyway, I think there will be one more chapter and then this story will be finito. Thanks for the reviews, once again!!! :-)
