Background info: Second season-ish. Rory and Jess are in their junior year.
Dean and Rory broke up because Dean moved back to Chicago. They're over it.
Just so you know, the only reason I took Dean out of the story is because
here, he is superfluous. Plus, if I do decide to put Jess and Rory
together, which I may not choose to do, I don't want her to have to choose
between them, I want it to be only about Jess.
Jess and Rory are friends. The car crash hasn't happened. I guess it's around right before the car crash. I'm a lit, but right now, this isn't about the romance. I may choose to build that up later, but I have so much more fun making Jess flirt with Rory just to see her squirm. Anyways, that's the background. Enjoy!
----
Rory was sitting at a table in the diner, studying for her last final before spring break. Jess was hovering, coffee pot in hand, reading over her shoulder.
"You know," Rory said, without looking up from the page, "I'm sure you have just as interesting a history book. You could be reading yours, and getting good grades while doing it."
"Are you incinuating?" Jess asked, pouring coffee into Rory's half full cup, a look of mock hurt on his face. Rory sighed and turned to look over her shoulder at him.
"Yes. Now go away. I hate when people read over my shoulder." She looked back down at her book.
"I know."
Rory rolled her eyes and closed the book, placing it on the table. She turned to look at Jess again. "Happy?"
Jess answered with a kind of smirk which melted into a half smile.
"What? What do you want? Why are you hovering?" Rory asked, faking exasperation through the laughs she was trying to hide.
"Can't a waiter stand over a customer, making sure that her coffee cup never empties?"
"What do you really want, Jess?"
"I want to go to Chuck Bibliophile's. In Hartford."
"Then go." Rory reached for her book again. Jess put his hand over hers.
"Come. Keep me company."
"I went with you last week. Besides, I need to study."
"Study later."
"Jess, this is my junior year."
"So?"
"So?" Rory laughed. "So, I need to do well."
"You will."
"Only if I study."
"You always do well."
"At the risk of sounding redundant: Only if I study."
"Come on. You know that stuff backwards and forwards." Rory rolled her eyes.
"OK. Here's what we do." Jess circled the table to sit across from Rory and put the coffee pot down. "You come to Hartford with me. We go to Chuck's. We get lunch. We come back. And then... I quiz you for your test."
"Well..."
"It's a good offer. You'll never see another like it."
"Fine. We'll be back early, right?"
"By three."
Rory stood, gathering her notes. "And then you'll help me study?"
"Yes."
She paused. "Promise?"
"Swear on my life." He raised a hand in the air for emphasis.
"All right. Let's go. God, you're a worse bibliophile than I am."
"This from the best. I'm flattered."
They got in the car and started for Hartford. They didn't say much: Rory was buried in her notes and Jess was concentrating on the road. Suddenly, Jess moved to speak. "Rory?"
"Yuh-hunh?"
"Do you have any regrets?"
Rory looked up. "About what?"
"Anything. Life in general."
"That's a random question." Rory looked back down at her notes. Jess didn't pursue the line of conversation. They arrived in front of Chuck's and walked in.
Chuck's had become a favorite place of the friends'. They would come in and browse for hours, looking for new books or cool copies or editions of ones they had already read. Chuck was a genius when it came to books. Sometimes, Jess would try to come up with an obscure title, but Chuck could always identify the author and a small blurb about it. Anything you wanted, you could order, but that sort of took the spontenaity out of browsing. If they had wanted to order something, why not just surf Amazon? Usually, Jess and Rory would just stop by and browse, looking at all of the titles.
Rory was looking at a few books, Jack Kerouac's, Sharon Creech's, and suddenly realized something.
"A road trip."
"What?" Jess asked.
"Kap Stann." Chuck said, passing on his way upstairs.
"No, no. I mean, before, in the car, you asked me if I regretted anything. I regret that I've never taken a bona fide road trip. I mean, mom and I have gone on driving trips, but I mean, one of those ones where you don't know where you're going, and you stay in bad motels and eat in bad diners and just drive from city to city until you decide to come back."
"You want to take a road trip?"
"Yes."
"You, Rory Gilmore, want to take a real road trip?" Jess leaned back against a book shelf and looked amused.
"Forget it." Rory turned back to the shelf she had been looking at.
He came closer, hovering over her shoulder. "Wait, so you'd eat in Denny's?"
"I said forget it." Rory walked over to another shelf.
Jess followed her, sounding more and more amused. "You would sleep in a bed with bad springs? That smells like feet?"
"I told you to forget it!"
"Fine, fine." Jess stood back and watched her look through the books aggressively. "Oh, the open road," Jess breathed. He dodged a copy of War and Peace. Hardcover edition. With extra notes in the back. He caught it and replaced it, smiling. She would pick a heavy book.
Jess and Rory are friends. The car crash hasn't happened. I guess it's around right before the car crash. I'm a lit, but right now, this isn't about the romance. I may choose to build that up later, but I have so much more fun making Jess flirt with Rory just to see her squirm. Anyways, that's the background. Enjoy!
----
Rory was sitting at a table in the diner, studying for her last final before spring break. Jess was hovering, coffee pot in hand, reading over her shoulder.
"You know," Rory said, without looking up from the page, "I'm sure you have just as interesting a history book. You could be reading yours, and getting good grades while doing it."
"Are you incinuating?" Jess asked, pouring coffee into Rory's half full cup, a look of mock hurt on his face. Rory sighed and turned to look over her shoulder at him.
"Yes. Now go away. I hate when people read over my shoulder." She looked back down at her book.
"I know."
Rory rolled her eyes and closed the book, placing it on the table. She turned to look at Jess again. "Happy?"
Jess answered with a kind of smirk which melted into a half smile.
"What? What do you want? Why are you hovering?" Rory asked, faking exasperation through the laughs she was trying to hide.
"Can't a waiter stand over a customer, making sure that her coffee cup never empties?"
"What do you really want, Jess?"
"I want to go to Chuck Bibliophile's. In Hartford."
"Then go." Rory reached for her book again. Jess put his hand over hers.
"Come. Keep me company."
"I went with you last week. Besides, I need to study."
"Study later."
"Jess, this is my junior year."
"So?"
"So?" Rory laughed. "So, I need to do well."
"You will."
"Only if I study."
"You always do well."
"At the risk of sounding redundant: Only if I study."
"Come on. You know that stuff backwards and forwards." Rory rolled her eyes.
"OK. Here's what we do." Jess circled the table to sit across from Rory and put the coffee pot down. "You come to Hartford with me. We go to Chuck's. We get lunch. We come back. And then... I quiz you for your test."
"Well..."
"It's a good offer. You'll never see another like it."
"Fine. We'll be back early, right?"
"By three."
Rory stood, gathering her notes. "And then you'll help me study?"
"Yes."
She paused. "Promise?"
"Swear on my life." He raised a hand in the air for emphasis.
"All right. Let's go. God, you're a worse bibliophile than I am."
"This from the best. I'm flattered."
They got in the car and started for Hartford. They didn't say much: Rory was buried in her notes and Jess was concentrating on the road. Suddenly, Jess moved to speak. "Rory?"
"Yuh-hunh?"
"Do you have any regrets?"
Rory looked up. "About what?"
"Anything. Life in general."
"That's a random question." Rory looked back down at her notes. Jess didn't pursue the line of conversation. They arrived in front of Chuck's and walked in.
Chuck's had become a favorite place of the friends'. They would come in and browse for hours, looking for new books or cool copies or editions of ones they had already read. Chuck was a genius when it came to books. Sometimes, Jess would try to come up with an obscure title, but Chuck could always identify the author and a small blurb about it. Anything you wanted, you could order, but that sort of took the spontenaity out of browsing. If they had wanted to order something, why not just surf Amazon? Usually, Jess and Rory would just stop by and browse, looking at all of the titles.
Rory was looking at a few books, Jack Kerouac's, Sharon Creech's, and suddenly realized something.
"A road trip."
"What?" Jess asked.
"Kap Stann." Chuck said, passing on his way upstairs.
"No, no. I mean, before, in the car, you asked me if I regretted anything. I regret that I've never taken a bona fide road trip. I mean, mom and I have gone on driving trips, but I mean, one of those ones where you don't know where you're going, and you stay in bad motels and eat in bad diners and just drive from city to city until you decide to come back."
"You want to take a road trip?"
"Yes."
"You, Rory Gilmore, want to take a real road trip?" Jess leaned back against a book shelf and looked amused.
"Forget it." Rory turned back to the shelf she had been looking at.
He came closer, hovering over her shoulder. "Wait, so you'd eat in Denny's?"
"I said forget it." Rory walked over to another shelf.
Jess followed her, sounding more and more amused. "You would sleep in a bed with bad springs? That smells like feet?"
"I told you to forget it!"
"Fine, fine." Jess stood back and watched her look through the books aggressively. "Oh, the open road," Jess breathed. He dodged a copy of War and Peace. Hardcover edition. With extra notes in the back. He caught it and replaced it, smiling. She would pick a heavy book.
