What We Are
Prologue...
Disclaimer: I don't own GG, or any songs, books, or movies, which I know you all knew already.
A/N: Yeah. I know. I wasn't going to start any more fics. Really, I wasn't! And then I saw that last episode with Jess in it, and I wrote this, and...yeah. Couldn't help it! lol. This starts the day after Jess says "I love you." Awww...okay, I will stop staring at this picture of him now. Anyway. I just suddenly got this idea, and it isn't totally planned out, but I have ideas and stuff. *nods* This is just the prologue for now; next chapter will be longer! I hope you all like this, and I'd love to hear what you think! ~ Ari
This is dedicated to all the Stars Hollow Lits, who are just so much fun and seem to agree with me about everything this episode, and Jess, and tons of stuff. It makes it so much more fun that I can talk about the show and everything with you guys! You're all awesome! And thanks especially to Elise, for beta-ing this for me and being so helpful--you rock!!
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Everything is the same. Well, really. Had she expected anything to change?
Sun reflects off the snow, but instead of looking pretty, as she usually thinks it does, it now seems to be glaring at her.
God, that look on his face. The way he said it. It is a stuck record, playing over and over again in her head, and every time she feels the same: shocked, relieved, almost pleased, and then hurt. That he hadn't said it sooner, that he'd left, that he'd let her worry and wonder for a year, that...everything.
Despite the scene at the Firelight Festival the night before, no one is shooting strange glances her way. For that, at least, she is relieved.
Thank God for Founders' Party Punch.
He had never been so close to crying. She had never seen him as...vulnerable as he was last night. He had meant it. He had really...meant it. After months of hiding things, of being sarcastic, of pretending to be tough, and of running away (not to mention all the wonderful times they'd had)...he'd said the three words she is willing to bet would be three of the hardest for him to say to anyone. And he'd done it for her.
How much had Rory ever known about him really?
It seems like after a night like that, something would have changed. Maybe something simple, maybe something big...who knows what? She isn't sure why it even seems that way; it just does...
She doesn't know what to think.
With a sigh, almost of regret, she turns the corner. She will walk into Luke's confidently, and the convincing act she puts on--that she is over him--she will make that true. Rory pushes her hair away from her face and heads for the diner.
Something catches her eye.
Standing on the steps, she surveys the surrounding Stars Hollow. There is something on that street, there, behind that tree. Curious, she takes a few steps forward, her speed increasing as she goes. And she stops in her tracks.
What is that doing here?
It is the same car she and her mom once deviled-egged. The same car that took her to that long ago Distillers concert. The same car that a certain guy jumped into and drove away from her last night.