She stepped into the market, glancing at the list again. So many things to get. She went through the aisles, picking up groceries.

"No school today?" Taylor called from the front.

Rory glanced over to Luke's diner. "Not for me."

"Why not?"

"Well, I just don't…"

"School holiday?" he pressed.

"Nope."

"Memorial?"

"Nope."

"Mandatory Teacher's Day?"

"Nope."

"Well, what is it?" he asked, exasperated.

"A 'Rory needs some coffee filters' day?" she said, slipping quickly behind a rack of bagels to avoid his stare. She got all that she needed and brought it up to the cashier.

"Would you like a box?"

She shook her head, paid, gathered the bags, and left under Taylor's accusing glare.

She got halfway across the square and a few bags slipped from her fingers, forcing her to drop all the bags. Suddenly she wished that she'd taken Taylor up on his offer of a box. "Oh for the love of-" she said, dropping to her hands and knees to pick up the scattered groceries. She leaned after a can of fruit salad, which rolled and stopped next to a large, male looking, sneakered foot. She jumped then looked up. A split-second flashback of Dean standing in front of her – a floppy-haired, lanky guy, on the last day at Stars Hollow High.

"Here, let me help you with that…" A box appeared from behind his back and he gathered her groceries into it. Without asking, he picked up the box and they started off towards the Gilmore house.

"No school today?" he asked finally.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she shot back.

Silence for a bit. They walked. Then,

"I skipped," he said quietly.

"Me too…"

Pause, then,

"I skipped handing in a paper."

"I skipped a test…"

Pause.

"You didn't finish it?" he asked, smiling faintly.

"You didn't study?" she replied.

Pause.

She sighed. "I skipped because of Jess."

He kept his gaze steady and level, watching as they approached her house. "I skipped because of you."

She looked up. "What?"

He shrugged. "I saw you go into the market so I skipped to see if you were alright. You looked a bit beat up."

She turned to the door, emotion swelling up inside her like a balloon pumped too full of air. She glanced quickly at his face then back to the lock. "Really?"

"Yeah."

She pushed open the door. "Well, thanks." There was something wrong, she realized, leading him into the kitchen. There was awkwardness between them, like when they had first met. Like they were meeting for the first time all over again. At least she hadn't started mumbling about cakes.

"Need some help putting these away?"

"Sure."

They worked silently side by side, taking things out and putting them away until they both reached into the box and their hands connected on the last box. They looked quickly at each other and Rory pulled her hand away.

Dean drew out the box.

A box of cornstarch.

They looked at each other again. A slow smile spread over Dean's face then they were both laughing.

As the laughter died away, Dean caught her eye, put the box down, took two steps and kissed her.

She felt his arms come around her waist, pulling her into him, his soft lips familiar on her own, and wanted to cry. Jess was wrong. Being with Jess was wrong. This was right. This was so right. They pulled away for air and Rory clung to him. She wanted that safe and secure feeling again, something she'd never felt with Jess.

He drew her to arm's length. "What's wrong?"

The tears fell. "Jess and I broke up… He's gone… He went to California… I just… I don't know what to think anymore," she explained, hiccupping. 

He led her to the couch, that safe and familiar couch and sat down, drawing her into his arms. "God, Rory, you're killing me…"

She buried her face in his shoulder. "I know… I didn't mean to… I know now… I shouldn't have… You'll never forgive me but…"

He smoothed the hair from her face and smiled faintly at her. "The scary thing about that is that I understood everything you just said…"

She peered up at him and smiled timidly back. "You did?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I did." And he kissed her again.

Note: Alright, guys, I think that's it… I'm not so good at the sequels and I'm not so good at the whole writing a zillion chapters because I end up running out of ideas… I mean, if I brought Jess back it would just be a big fight and kind of repetitive… and old… so, yeah, I think this is pretty much…

The End…