I'd Rather Be There
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: Wilson! I own Wilson…he's my new bunny. You can't have him! I'm making a rule…no suing allowed. :D
Pairing: This will be a lit eventually
Rating: PG – 13
Summary: This is the sequel to I'd Rather Be Anywhere But Here. Jess was in California. Rory was at Yale. Jess came back to Stars Hollow leaving Rory with a heavy burden to carry. If you don't know what I'm talking about then go and read the above mentioned fic.
A/N: Okay I looked up the names of all the people who have reviewed and I would like to thank....Amanda, goldengirl736, smile1, bluedancer, nature-girlie, ILOVEMILO, kmb, Spuffyluvr, xXMiSFiT 247Xx, Bookwormz, Piper Sora Rizuka, Spunky Panda, purple is my favorite color, and DarkAngl2025. If you are one of those people, then you rock! And if you aren't one of those people then you rock too…and you should consider reviewing so that you can see your name up here. lol. I got to work on this chapter really fast, which was unusual because I normally wait a few weeks.
And I would also like to thank DarkAngl2025 for giving me some ideas for this chapter! You're the best! :D Oh, and you should check out The coffee is always better at Luke's. It is a joint fic mostly by me and DarkAngl. Check it out! It's listed under DarkAngl2025. J
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Jess entered the grocery store about twenty minutes after leaving his apartment. The store was a few blocks away and he had walked slowly, leisurely, taking in his surroundings and noting how glad he was to be back in New York.
It was his home, and now he realized how stupid he had been thinking that he could go from 'East coast tough guy' to 'West coast surfer dude'…not that he had though that in the first place, he knew that it would be weird and different, but at the time being, he had no other options, or at least none that had seemed reasonable.
But it was good that he went to California. He got to know his dad…and his questions about him had been answered…maybe even some of the anger he had towards him disappeared as he got to know him better, but it would never be completely gone. You can't just forgive someone for abandoning you.
Jess walked over to the stack of baskets and grabbed one. He adjusted it in his hand and tried to look manly, but he found that there was no way to look manly when you're holding a little, red basket.
He had made a mental list of some things that he needed to buy, but now that he was actually in the store, he was having trouble remembering them. Dammit, I should have made a list.
He looked around and noticed the produce isle. Milk, cheese, eggs…. He approached the isle and nearly ran into a woman head on.
"Sorry about that," He said.
She looked up, green eyes sparkling. "No it was my fault," She said laughing. "I wasn't paying attention," She told him and flipped her blonde hair with her neatly manicured hand.
He knew this gesture well. She was flirting with him. He couldn't stand it when girls did that and it took all of his energy not to roll his eyes at her. "Huh," He said and side-stepped her, heading for the milk.
She looked after him and decided to follow. "You know, I'm new here and I was wondering if you might know where the nearest restaurant is," She said to him.
He turned around slowly. "There's an Applebee's around the corner and to the left," He answered.
"Oh thanks," She looked down at her watch. "Boy am I hungry, I haven't had lunch yet."
Jess ignored this and turned back around.
"You wouldn't want to catch a bite would you?" She asked.
He held up his basket. "I can't, I've got shopping to do," He answered bluntly before grabbing a gallon of milk and setting it into his basket.
"Well, if you change your mind before you leave, I'll be here!" She said before turning and walking away.
Jess now rolled his eyes. Shit. Is there a flashing neon sign on my forehead saying 'SINGLE'?
He made his way over to the eggs and checked a few cartons before finding one that had no broken eggs. He gently added it to his basket.
He then went down every isle and ended up with bread, lunch meat, condiments, and a few snacks.
He was just about to the check-out line when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and found himself facing the girl from earlier.
"Hey there, I was just wondering what your name was…" She said smiling.
"Wally," He answered quickly, hoping that the dorky name would make her lose interest.
"Ooh, like from Leave it to Beaver," She said grinning and waited for Jess to respond. "Aren't you going to ask me my name?" She finally asked.
"I wasn't planning on it."
She ignored this and brushed a hand through her hair, trying a little too hard to appear sexy. "It's Megan," She informed him.
Jess nodded and pretended like he actually cared before saying, "Look 'Megan'," He said in mock of her name. "I'm not interested, okay?"
"You got a girlfriend?"
Jess paused.
"I didn't think so." She pulled a pen out of her purse and before he could stop her, she scribbled her name and number onto his hand. "Call me if you change your mind, Wally," She said before turning and heading towards the other end of the store.
Jess frowned at his hand. god. Some people just don't take a hint…and she had to do it in pink ink…how nice and fruity.
"Excuse me? Can I help you?" A voice asked from behind him.
He looked around and realized that he was next in line and sat the basket down onto the conveyer belt.
The cashier noticed his hand as he did so. "Megan gotcha?" She asked laughing.
He looked up at her. She was petite and had light brown hair and dark eyes. He nodded.
"Was she looking for a restaurant or did she 'lose her dog'?" The girl, whose name tag read Sammy, asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean she does this often?"
Sammy nodded, smirking. "She's a friend of mine. She comes in here about twice a week trying to get a date," She explained.
"She certainly doesn't take a hint," He said.
"No she doesn't…she's a little desperate," She said and started to scan his items. "What book are you reading?"
He frowned. "What?"
She laughed nervously. "The book…in your back pocket. I saw it when you were turned around…not that I was checking out your butt or anything…no I just noticed it," She babbled.
Jess smirked slightly. "Hemmingway…For Whom the Bell Tolls," He answered and pulled the book out of his pocket to show her.
"Ooh, good book," She said nodding. "You're total comes to $32.86."
"You like to read?" He asked as he pulled out his wallet and laid to twenties down.
"Oh yeah. My apartment is basically one big bookcase," She answered as she opened the cash register and began to fish out his change.
"I need to buy a bookcase," He said to himself and then realized that he had said it out loud when a look of curiosity spread across her face.
"I just moved to an apartment and my books are in boxes," He explained.
She nodded. "Which one?"
Jess thought about this for a second and realized that he didn't actually know the name. "Uh…those gray ones a few blocks down…"
"The Cedar Commons?" She asked.
Jess paused before replying, "Yeah I think that's it."
"Wow!" She exclaimed.
"What?" He asked as he started to help her bag his stuff.
"I live there too."
"Small world," He mused as she pulled the receipt out.
"Yeah," she said as he put the last item into the bag. "Oh, by the way, I'm Sammy."
"Jess," He told her as he grabbed his bags and she tossed the receipt inside.
"Have a nice day," She said as he walked towards the door, briefly stopping to nod at her.
He left the store and walked down the street quickly, hoping that Megan wouldn't follow him.
He finally reached the entrance to his apartment and pulled out his key to unlock the front door. The only downside to the apartment was the fact that it didn't have an elevator, so anytime he wanted to go anywhere, he'd have to descend three flights of stairs…on the bright side, it would be good exercise.
He arrived at his door, 3B, and entered it breathing heavily. I must be seriously out of shape…it's just 3 stories, it's not like the Empire State Building or something…
He unloaded the contents of the first bag, laying the bread on the counter along with the snacks.
He opened the other bag and placed the milk, cheese, eggs, and lunchmeat into the refrigerator.
He threw the empty bag away and pulled the receipt out of the second before proceeding to throw that one away. A blue circle on the receipt caught his attention. What is that? He picked it up and looked. Written on it was:
Sammy
479-8301
3F
Jess opened his front door and looked out into the hall. 3F was located directly across from him. He closed the door and sat down in one of his chairs, smirking ever so slightly.
Maybe I should go for it…? I haven't dated in over 8 months. I've gotta move on sometime…she has no feelings for me…it is pointless to 'pine' over her, as she put it.
He sighed and sat the number down onto the table. Maybe tomorrow…
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-A few hours later-
Rory opened the door to Luke's and walked over to the counter.
"Hey Rory, how's it going?" Luke asked as he folded a cloth over his shoulder.
"Okay…I was just looking for-"
Luke held up a hand and pointed to a table in the corner. "She's over there."
Rory smiled. "Has she been here long?"
He shook his head. "A minute or two… I was just going to bring her some coffee."
Rory nodded and walked over to the table and sat down across from her.
"Hey babe," Lorelai said looking up from her purse and then looked back down and started to dig through it.
"Problems?" Rory asked.
"I can't find my sunglasses!" Lorelai exclaimed.
Rory started to laugh. "Why do you need them anyways?"
Lorelai ignored this question. "I was looking for a breath-mint while I waited for you and noticed that my sunglasses weren't in my purse," Lorelai explained as she flipped her purse over onto the table and dumped everything out of it. After searching through the pile, she came to the conclusion that they weren't there.
Rory continued to laugh. "Mom-" She started to say, but Lorelai stopped her.
"This is not funny Rory! This is a very serious matter!" Lorelai told her.
"Mom-"
"What would happen if I went outside and looked at the sun? It would blind me! You'd have to escort me everywhere, maybe buy me a dog…" Lorelai ranted.
"Or maybe Luke would…"
"What would I do?" He asked as he sat the coffee's down in front of them.
"Drag me around everywhere when I go blind," Lorelai said.
Luke looked at her curiously. "Why are you going to go blind?"
"Because," She said in an 'it's so obvious' manner, "I can't find my SUNGLASSES!" She said, exasperated.
Luke laughed. "Lorelai, your sunglasses are on top of your head."
Lorelai frowned and reached up to her head. Sure enough, they were there. She pulled them off quickly. "How come you didn't tell me?" She asked Rory.
Rory laughed. "I tried…you kept interrupting me!"
"Well…at least I won't be blind now," She stated.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Food?"
"Hamburger and fries…" They both answered automatically.
"Right…it'll be out soon…" He walked away shaking his head.
Lorelai stuck her sunglasses into her purse before looking up and leaning forward. "So, have you decided what to do about," She lowered her voice, "Jess?"
Rory twisted her lips to the side. "I don't know…I'm thinking maybe call him…tell him how I feel…or ask him if we can meet and talk…"
Lorelai nodded. "That sounds good…when are you going to do it?"
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Tomorrow morning or afternoon?" She suggested.
"The sooner the better…"
Rory nodded, but was amazed that her mom was going along with this. "Now are you sure-?"
Lorelai stopped her. "No, I'm not okay with it, exactly…but it's something that you need to do."
Rory nodded. "Okay…then tomorrow it is."
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A/N: Got this one up quickly didn't I? I would appreciate reviews. :D Was it in character? Are you liking it? Should I write more stories after this one is done? You have no idea how much review help to inspire and motivate you to write more. Thanks! :D