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

A/N: I don't have a lot to say at this moment, but be sure to read the A/N at the bottom, okay? :-) Until then I hope you'll enjoy this chapter which Alexia so kindly looked through for me. :-)

Love is Found when Two Hearts Break

When Rory closed her car door, she didn't pull her hand back; instead, her fingers remained sprawled out on it as if she was considering to open it again, get in, and drive away, leaving everyone out here in the dust of her reckless behavior that was so inconsiderate towards Joey, her husband. She knew that the best decision she could make right now was to drive away from her past and never once look back because then, she might have another chance to unshackle her marriage - that was what Joey wanted, for her to just stop prying into her past so much and wander down memory lane so often; he wanted her to stop wishing for things that would never be, but what if he was wrong? What if she could rekindle that old flame between her and Jess? Joey would never forgive her, but if he loved her as much as he claimed he did, then he would want her to be happy, even if it meant being happy with someone else.

Rory pulled her hand back and glanced over at the diner. This time there wasn't one particular memory spiraling through her mind, instead, there were more. They were twisting themselves around the few rational thoughts she still had and ran crisscross passed each other, making her feel dizzy with excitement and that sugarcoated nervousness that caused her eyes to sparkle with a smile that was too foolish to actually show. With a simple movement from her feet, she turned herself around so she could cross the street. The closer she got to the diner, the harder it became to fight the urge to smile and the more she became aware of her own heartbeat that seemed to be increasing with every step. Those two reactions were proof enough for her that this was indeed the right thing to do. She had to give in to her instinct and let her intuition lead her to whatever destination it had in mind.

She walked over to the entrance of the diner without sneaking a peek through the window, believing that if she did, some of the magic would be lost. She could compare it to a surprise someone had for you. All day long, she would ponder about it and wonder what it could be, but once she saw the shape through the wrapping, part of the appeal faded, even if it was only for a minute or two. Of course, it would return once she was ripping the paper off and it would even remain once she saw what it was, but if you gave it a couple of days, the charm of it would completely wear off, leaving her with a longing for another one of those surprises. That was what Jess was, one of those surprises, except with him, she would never lose interest because she would never entirely be able to unwrap him.

Rory pushed open the door and entered the diner, the bell above the door jingling as it announced her presence. Her eyes immediately skittered over to the counter, expecting him to be there. When he wasn't, she wanted to leave and give herself another opportunity to change her mind and live happily ever after with Joey, but she didn't move. She couldn't because her eyes had already found him, it had just taken a while for the image to get through to her. Just as she had planned to leave, he had appeared from behind the curtains, almost as if he had been waiting for her to walk in. She brought her eyes up to his, anticipating for their eyes to lock, but just as they were about to, a familiar voice caused her attention to falter and her eyes to slip.

''Mom,'' she said, trying not to let her surprise shine through as she turned her head. She quickly scanned the crowd in search of her mom, who she found sitting at a table by the window, her coffee temporarily forgotten in her hands. Rory made her way over to the table.

''Sweets, what are you doing here?'' Lorelai asked as her daughter sat down across from her. ''Shouldn't you be at work?''

''I took a day off. I have all of the stuff they need saved on my computer, plus they can reach me on my cell phone if they need to. Besides, I thought I deserved a day off.''

''I wish I could just do that, but if I don't come in for a day and leave Michel in charge, all hell will break lose. Suddenly, toilets will start flooding, the staff will slack off and Michel's head will increase its width because of the growing ego.''

''Hire a filming crew and you'll make Stars Hollow famous,'' Rory remarked.

''And lose all of my precious European guests that will travel across the world just to stay in my Inn?''

Rory offered her mom a small smile. ''So you're going back over to the Dragonfly in a few?''

Lorelai nodded while sipping her coffee. ''Yeah, I have to prepare for all of those European guests. You can come with me if you want.''

Rory lowered her hands to her lap and started to pull at the hem of her shirt. ''Actually, I was thinking I could browse through the books at the local bookstore.''

''Because they don't have bigger and better bookstores in Hartford with a larger selection,'' Lorelai said, raising an eyebrow. ''What's the real reason you're here?''

Rory sighed and looked up at her mom. ''I came to see Jess.''

''Well, at least the book browsing makes a lot more sense now. Does Joey know about your little rendezvous with your ex-boyfriend?''

Rory shook her head while nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. ''No, he doesn't. See, mom, Joey and I aren't doing so good.''

''I know,'' Lorelai replied.

''How do you know?''

''You coming here to visit Jess gave it away. It is because of punk rebel boy over there, right?''

Rory nodded. ''Yeah, although he didn't have a lot to do with it. I think he even tried to stop me from doing something that might dent my marriage.''

''And now it's entirely dented.''

Rory smiled sadly. ''Are you mad?''

''Of course not, honey. If Joey's not the man for you then you'll have to find the man that is, even if that man is Jess.''

That was when reality fully unraveled itself to Rory. She wasn't happy with Joey; she had just settled for him because he came as close to perfect as she would ever find. But she didn't want a picture perfect life, she wanted a life that would give her something unexpected every day - a life that shifted with every emotion possible day in and day out and left her hanging with surprise and Joey wasn't the kind of person that could give her that, but Jess was and if he would still take her, she would be more than happy to have him.

Rory smiled, relieved that she had finally admitted it to herself. ''Thanks, mom''

''Well, I have gone through some relationships where I wasn't as happy as I should be so the least I can do is pass on my advice. Advice some people will surely kill for and be willing to die for, too.''

''You're a knowledgeable woman,'' Rory said.

''I'm so proud to be your mommy.''

Rory rolled her eyes as she watched her mom take a gulp of her coffee and get up.

''I have to get back to work. Don't leave Stars Hollow without letting me know, okay?''

''I won't.''

''Good girl,'' Lorelai said before placing a kiss on Rory's head and storming off in the direction of the door. Rory remained seated for a few more seconds as she waited for her mom to pass by the window. When she did, Lorelai made a face and Rory just waved, thankful for what she and her mom still had.

''It's scary, but sometimes she seems even more immature than you.''

''Which would make her five,'' Rory commented as her eyes swiftly found the figure that was hovering over her. ''Hey.''

''Hey,'' Jess responded while his hands disappeared into his pockets.

''So, bookstore?''

Jess nodded and took a few steps back so she would have the room she needed to get up. ''You picked a good day.''

''I did?''

''Yep, a new truckload of books just arrived about an hour ago.''

''A truckload?'' Rory asked, looking back at Jess as she opened the door.

''Literally.''

''I'm so glad I brought money.''

Jess smirked as he followed Rory outside. No matter what subject they were avoiding or how awkward their interaction was supposed to be, they could always go back to being friends as easily as one would snap their fingers.

-x-x-x-

''Are you sure you won't need a truck to take all of that home?'' Jess asked while he looked over at Rory who had stubbornly insisted on carrying her own books. Even now, when she was frowning because of the weight of the two paper bags that were hanging from her hands, she stuck out her tongue at him, trying not to lose the balance which she could normally so effortlessly keep.

Jess shook his head as he reached for his back pocket, running his fingers over the unworn pages of the single book he had bought. He didn't see the use in buying more than one book when you could only get lost in one at the time, anyway. As he watched her struggle with the books, he wondered what was next on their agenda. His guess was pointless chitchat over a cup of coffee.

''You're obsessed,'' he thoughtlessly said, although in his mind, it was a small piece of a beautiful sentence - a sentence that would end with the truth.

''Am not,'' he heard her reply, his cue to continue.

''You are,'' he started, his eyes moving up to her eyes in anticipation of his next words. ''You're obsessed... with the past.''

Just as he expected, her eyes found his within a heartbeat, widening with the surprise that her features helped tell.

''We need to talk,'' he said as he broke his gaze free from hers.

''I know,'' was her gentle response as if she had already found peace with what was about to come.

They kept on walking in silence. The destination was clear to the both of them and once they reached it, familiarity took over them instantly and shot through their bodies like an electric shock. Their entire bodies shook for a single second and even when the feeling left them, there was still that buzzing sound around them that only they could hear. Rory smiled as she felt her body tingle with energy. She wondered if his heart was vibrating at the same ghostly rhythm as hers as it was still temporarily caught in a frenzy of pure bliss. Jess was experiencing the same thrill. It felt as if he was riding a roller coaster upside down through the clouds and, knowing that even if he would unbuckle his safety belt and just let himself fall, he would land softly as if he had been floating on air, feeling feather light. As they sat down on the bridge, the feeling faded into the background, sounding like a record that was playing in a distant room, although they could still hear the words clearly.

''What do you wanna hear?'' Rory asked, starting off the conversation bravely.

''The truth.''

Rory nodded as she lowered her head so her hair would shade her face from him for as long as she wanted. It would make it easier to talk.

''I don't love Joey. I can't even say it to him anymore because I don't think I ever loved him; well, of course, I did love him, but not in the way I was supposed to.'' She paused, taking in her own words now that she had said it. ''I haven't even told him all of this yet, that I don't love... that I'm not in love with him anymore.''

''But he does suspect?'' Jess asked while looking at her.

''Yes. I tried not to fall out of love with him, but it happened...''

''When?''

''Do you even have to ask?'' Rory asked, tilting her head a little so she could up at Jess.

'' I'm sorry.''

''I'm not,'' she calmly said. ''It's entirely my fault and I just came here to talk to you because I...''

''Me, too,'' Jess said.

Rory smiled and did nothing as Jess started to lean in. She wanted him to do so because it would trigger only more memories and right now, that was what she needed because that was all she could have. It was all she would let herself have. So when there were only a few inches of space left between their bodies and she could feel his breath against her skin, she looked him in the eye and stopped him.

''Jess, I can't. Not when Joey and I still live in the same apartment. I know I let it happen before, but...'' She lowered her eyes to her hands as they pulled at his shirt. ''Jess, this is all I can do to repay him for staying with me this long. I never deserved him.''

Jess gingerly put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. This was all he could do right now.

-x-x-x-

As soon as Rory entered their apartment she knew that he was there, even though the door had been locked, something that Rory saw as a way to temporarily shut her out of his life until she would find the key to open it. The key to the door she had, but the keys to his heart, soul or mind had never been in her possession. Maybe he had kept them hidden from her purposely or maybe she hadn't searched for them hard enough. It was a sad thought, but it was one she would have to live with if she didn't tell him what was on her mind. She looked at the key in her hand, knowing that it would be hard to let go, but not impossible.

As she wrapped her fingers around it, she headed for the kitchen, following the aroma of spices. It was a smell she had grown used to. Joey was fond of cooking and did it with a great passion. He would be proud of every meal he made. She knew that the smell would fade, but the memory would remain and she didn't know what would hurt more. Before entering the kitchen, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the conflict that lay ahead. She walked over to the stove where Joey stood, not looking at her as he kept stirring.

''Hey,'' she said as soon as she came to a halt.

Joey nodded, still paying more attention at their dinner than at her. ''How was work?''

''Actually, I didn't go to work today. I took a day off.''

''So you wandered around Hartford all day?'' Joey lightly chuckled. ''I never knew that there were so many things to do here; you should show me some time.''

''I went to Stars Hollow,'' Rory confessed, causing Joey to finally look up at her, although he never stopped stirring.

Rory lifted her hand and placed the key on the edge of the stove. Joey followed her movements and finally stopped stirring when he saw what she had done.

''I won't be needing it anymore.''

''You went to see him,'' Joey stated, his tone becoming more bitter with every word he spoke.

''Yes.''

''So all this time... you still loved him?'' He looked up to look at her, something Rory couldn't seem to bare because her eyes became glazed with tears within seconds.

''I'm sorry, Joey. I didn't mean to do this to you,'' Rory managed to utter before she started to sob, her head lowered and her hands covering her face as if she was trying to hide.

Joey averted his eyes and turned off the stove just to have something to do. ''Guess dinner's out of the question,'' he murmured, although not loud enough for Rory to hear.

He looked at her cry, realizing that he had expected this to happen. They both knew that they couldn't have kept on fighting with each other. It wouldn't have been healthy. He sighed and turned to face her. He reached for her hands with his own.

''Ror.''

She let him remove her hands from her face, though she didn't dare to look at him.

''I'm so sorry,'' she whispered. ''I'll leave right now, I just have to get my stuff.''

''Where are you going to go?'' Joey softly asked her while trying to meet her eyes.

''My mom's.''

''Ror,'' he started while wiping a few strands of hair out of her face. ''I don't think you should be driving right now.''

''But I have to leave.''

Joey nodded, something Rory didn't see. ''I agree, but not right now, not tonight.''

''Then what do I do?'' she asked, her voice sounding as sad as he had ever heard it.

''You'll have dinner.''

''No...''

''You have to eat,'' Joey said, stopping her. ''We both have to eat... we have to talk.''

Rory nodded, accepting his offer.

REVIEW! Please? :-) Okay, so the inevitable is finally here... I didn't want to make Joey and Rory's confrontation too messy because in my mind Joey isn't the kind of person that would do something like that, especially since he knew that it was coming. I hope I did this chapter justice, though I doubt I did. At least I tried my best. Anyway, thanks again for your (too) kind reviews, ever one is a small piece of motivation. My next update will take a bit longer than a week because I'm going to be busy, but as soon as I have the time I'll start writing. Oh, and if you have the time and are a fan of the show Roswell, please be so kind to check out my story 'Alienated'. Thank you! :-)