Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. The plot and any original characters (specifically Claire) belong to me, but everything else is stuff I only wish I could take credit for.
A/N: Wow. This is the final chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews. Keep them coming! The epilogue will be up briefly. I hope you all like how this turns out! Reviews are our friends!
Chapter 15: Woman in Love
It was the first time in history that a three-hour car ride lasted for two and a half eternities. Rory read the entire way, or at least had a book open in front of her. A good part of the time, she was thinking. She was wondering where they were going, thinking about all the possible scenarios, and thinking about Jess. She was also slightly nervous that Claire was going to throw her out of the car and leave her for dead in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Claire had the luxury of concentrating on her driving. Whenever they were stuck in traffic, which accounted for about an hour of the trip, she'd fiddle with the radio and focus on the songs that were playing.
Rory looked up from her book as they drove past a sign that boasted, Welcome to Clarks Summit.
"Clarks Summit?" Rory asked, closing her book.
"Clarks Summit." Claire repeated with a nod.
"I've never heard of this place." Rory said, looking out the window as they passed a row of small shops.
Claire switched on her blinker and waited to make a left turn, drumming her fingertips on the gearshift. Her mouth turned up in a small smile. "Yeah well, it isn't exactly a thriving metropolis. Nice enough place though. There's a Sheetz a few towns over. They make great subs. We should stop before we go back."
The light turned green and Claire made a sharp left turn, causing Rory to brace herself against the door. "Why are we here? You took me from my grandmother's townhouse and dragged me on some random adventure to Middle-of-Nowhere Pennsylvania. I think I deserve to know why." She said. "And yes, I want a sub later."
Claire smirked. "We're going to see a play." She said.
"A play." Rory repeated, dumbfounded by the answer.
"Yup, a play." Claire said, smiling a little.
"You brought me to Pennsylvania to see a play." Rory said, confusion still in her voice.
"That I did." Claire agreed.
"Even though Broadway would've been a better and faster alternative."
Claire shook her head. "This isn't a play you'll see on Broadway. This is special."
"Do you get off on being cryptic?" Rory snapped.
"Maybe." Claire retorted easily. "Do you get off on asking boys to make impossible decisions?"
Rory opened her mouth, shut it quickly, and then said, "Maybe."
Claire made a right turn onto a road lined with trees on both sides and Rory looked out the window again. "Reminds me of home a little."
Claire glanced out the window for a second before focusing back on the road. "Yeah, me too."
It was a little before 2 P.M when Claire and Rory pulled up past a sign that said Baptist Bible College. Rory turned to Claire with a curious look on her face.
"We're at a college." She said dumbly.
"Baptist Bible College, to be exact." Claire said brightly.
Rory sighed. "Have I mentioned yet how terribly confused I am?"
Claire nodded. "You have, and I appreciate you reminding me again. I'm going to explain everything to you in due time. So you can keep saying it, but it isn't going to make me tell you any faster."
Rory sighed. "Difficult girl."
Claire laughed. "Pot calling kettle, line one."
Rory couldn't help herself, and let a snicker escape her lips.
Claire pulled up to a fairly full parking lot. She swung the car into a space and looked up at the building in front of them. "We're here." She said simply.
The two girls stepped out of the car and shut the doors. Rory went to lock hers, but Claire laughed and said, "You don't need to do that here."
Rory tilted her head. "Guess I've been in New York too long." She said thoughtfully.
"You haven't been there that long." Claire said, coming up to Rory's side of the car.
Rory shrugged. "Feels like forever."
Claire laughed a little. 'Yeah. It always feels like forever. C'mon."
The two girls walked towards a building clearly marked AUDITORIUM/CAFETERIA. Rory looked at her watch and demanded, "What kind of play shows at 2 P.M. on a Tuesday afternoon?"
"This is the kind of play that shows at 2 P.M. on a Tuesday afternoon." Claire whispered to Rory. The two girls stood in the back of a small auditorium, concealed by the shadows. Rory's eyes were transfixed on the stage, where a group of about a dozen people around her own age were acting out stories from the Bible. Filling the front four rows of chairs were about fifty children who ranged in age from about five to about ten.
Rory turned her eyes away from the sight unfolding in front of her, which was the story of the Last Supper. "You brought me to Pennsylvania to watch Bible stories?"
Claire was watching the stage intently. She shook her head without meeting Rory's eyes. "I didn't bring you here to catch BBC's rendition of the Last Supper. I wanted you to see Jesus."
"What?" Rory yelped loudly. Claire finally turned to face her.
"Shh." Claire said in a whisper. "Don't ruin this for the kids."
Rory frowned, but remained silent. The children were all staring intently at the stage with wide eyes. This was clearly very exciting for them. "What do you mean?" Rory demanded.
Claire raised her slightly shaky hand and pointed a finger at the young man in the center of the stage. "Jesus." She repeated.
Rory raised her eyes and looked at the person she was referring to. He was a very tall young man swathed in archaic-looking robes. His green eyes were so piercing and large that Rory could make them out from across the small auditorium. His long, shaggy brown hair was clearly his own, but the beard on his face was not. His arms were extended and the look on his face was on of peace and love. Rory studied him as he spoke his lines, and then turned to Claire with an inquisitive look.
Claire's smile was soft and dreamy. "He makes a good Jesus. Last time I was here, he was Moses."
Rory looked from Claire to the boy playing Jesus and back at Claire again, understanding washing over her. "Who is he?" Rory asked gently.
Claire turned to Rory and there were tears in her eyes. "Michael. His name is Michael."
"You love him." Rory said dumbly.
"More than anything." Claire agreed, looking back up at him.
Rory studied the young man again. He was handsome, and perhaps it was just good acting, but he looked like a good and sweet man as well. "Does he love you?"
Claire's smile was heartbreaking. "He did."
"Past tense?" Rory asked, unintentionally feeling sympathetic for her.
Claire just nodded, swallowing back a sob.
"Sorry." Rory whispered, feeling uncomfortable.
"Don't be." Claire said gently. She turned and faced Rory. "He loved me and I loved him. He wanted to marry me."
Rory's eyes widened. "You were engaged?"
Claire shook her head. "No. He wanted to marry me. I didn't say yes." She looked at Rory pointedly and said, "I gave him an ultimatum."
Rory looked down at the ground. "Oh. Why?"
Claire looked back at Michael. "He's going to be a minister. A damn good one too. No one cares more for people than he does. I mean, he spends his summers directing and acting in these Bible stories for the kids that go to Bible camp here! He's thinking about missionary work. Last I knew he hadn't made a decision yet though. He's devoted to God and helping others. He also has amazing taste in books and movies. Not the greatest taste in music, but I forgive him for that."
"So why didn't you want to marry him?"
Claire was still staring at him. "He wanted to make me a minister's wife. Me! He thought I'd be a good minister's wife."
"You probably would." Rory said thoughtfully.
Claire smiled a small, sad smile. "Yeah, I would've been. But I was terrified. He loved me so much that he wanted to make me his in the eyes of God. To someone like Michael, there's absolutely nothing more sacred. That's how much he loved me."
"You were scared?" Rory asked, feeling sick at the similarities she was seeing between Claire and herself.
"I've never been more scared. Being loved that much is an amazing feeling, but it's scary as all Hell too. I couldn't let him love me that much. I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to be the one to let him down."
Rory nodded her understanding. "So you left it up to him."
"I gave him a decision I knew would destroy him and that would end up with him breaking it off with me. I told him he had to choose between being a minister and being with me. I played my game, and I won. Lost. Both, actually." There were tears spilling from Claire's eyes as she turned back to Rory. "You're playing my game, kid, and you're damn good at it."
There were a few stray tears in Rory's eyes as well. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please!" Claire exclaimed as quietly as she could, wiping at her eyes. "You told him move out or he loses you, without any alternative for where he should live, knowing that he has so little money, and knowing that you'll be going home in a month. You knew I had no interest in Jess. Both of us made that very clear to you. We're friends. Nothing more. For two reasons. One of them is up on that stage playing a martyr. The other is standing in front of me, trying to make herself one."
Rory was crying openly but silently, hugging her arms against herself as she did.
Claire sighed and put a tentative hand on Rory's shoulder. "You've gotta learn how to fall in love, Rory. Or else life's going to seem a lot longer than you want it to."
Rory was saved from responding by the sound of fifty young children breaking out into applause. The Last Supper was over and the actors were taking their bows.
"Do you want to talk to him?" Rory asked.
Claire smiled at Michael and shook her head. "No. I can't. It's too late for us. It's why I play matchmaker like I do."
Rory sniffed. "Matchmaker?" She asked, confused.
Claire nodded. "It's why I wedged that list Jess made into your copy of The Holy Barbarians, and it's why I invited you up to the apartment the first day.'
Rory stared blankly at Claire, waiting for her to elaborate.
Claire smiled and said, "I knew who you were. I recognized you from your photograph. The one Jess keeps between the pages of Howl."
The tears were flowing faster now as Rory reveled in this new information. She felt almost guilty for doubting Claire and so stupid about her whole plan to make Jess hate her.
"How about we go get some food, and go back to New York?" Claire asked sweetly.
Rory just nodded, still lost in her thoughts. "Yeah. Ok."
Claire pushed the large canvas tarp to the side and entered the apartment. "We really need a new door." She said to Jess. "This is not safe at all."
Jess smirked. "Yeah. Tony said he won't pay to replace it. I called Luke. He gave me the name of a place. I'll go down tomorrow. Other than that, we can really only pray that we don't get robbed."
Claire sighed and tossed her bag on the ground. She sank down on the sofa next to Jess. "I'm home." She said quietly.
"I can see that. How's Michael?"
"An amazing Jesus." Claire responded.
"Jesus this year, eh?" Jess said. "Moving up in the world."
"Yeah." Claire said. "How was your day?"
Jess shrugged and put his book down. "Worked, read, and thought about some stuff."
"Any closer to making a decision?" Claire asked.
Jess sighed. "Yeah. A few days I'll let you both know."
Claire nodded with a smile. "I'm gonna go for a walk, I think. I need to clear my head." She pushed herself up off the couch and over to the tarp-covered doorway.
"Want company?" Jess asked.
Claire pushed the tarp aside with a wide grin. "Sorry, babe. You've already got company."
"What?" Jess asked, confused. He looked up at the doorway and saw Rory standing there. She was smiling a small, nervous smile.
"Hi." Rory said softly.
Jess immediately stood up. "Hey."
Claire looked back and forth between the two of them with a smile. "I'm going for that walk." She exited the room, leaving Rory and Jess alone together.
"Wanna sit?" Jess asked uncomfortably.
Rory hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah. I do." She walked over to the sofa and sat down on it, her arms folded across her stomach.
Jess looked around frantically for something to occupy himself. "Do you want a soda? A beer? We don't have any beer. But I've got a fake ID, I can go get some."
Rory looked up at Jess with a nervous smile. "I want you to sit down and stop looking for reasons to not look me in the eye."
Jess smirked. "Noticed that, huh?"
Rory nodded and Jess sat down next to her on the couch. He turned towards her and said, "What are you doing here?"
"Claire came to see me this morning." Rory said. "And she took me to Pennsylvania with her."
Jess's eyes widened and his smirk relaxed into a smile. "Of course she did. You saw Michael, then?"
Rory nodded. "I did. She loves him."
"Yup." Jess said. "He's a good guy. I only wish they could be together."
"Claire's your Lane." Rory said simply.
Jess nodded. "Yeah."
"She's your best friend." Rory continued.
"Yeah." Jess repeated.
"You don't love her." Rory said.
"I'm not in love with her." Jess corrected. "I love her like my sister."
Rory nodded. "Yeah. I get that. Did you know that Claire and I are a lot alike?"
Jess snorted back a laugh, "In the five years I've known Claire and the three years I've known you, I've noticed."
"I was playing her game." Rory said, the honesty in the statement frightening her.
"Her game?" Jess asked quizzically. Then his face lightened in understanding. "Oh! She got you to play poker with her! She's a shark."
Rory was amazed at Jess's naivety. He had absolutely no idea what Claire had done to Michael. He was such a guy.
"She took me for all I'm worth." Rory responded.
Jess nodded. "Yeah. I've learned not to play with her anymore."
The silence that followed lasted for a minute, but it felt like a lifetime to both Rory and Jess.
Rory looked at Jess with her wide blue eyes. "Once upon a time, I fell in love with you."
Jess took Rory's hands in his own. "Once upon a time, I fell too."
"It was the scariest thing that ever happened to me." Rory continued.
Jess raised an eyebrow. "You were scared? Please! After the first time we kissed, I threw up I was so scared."
Rory laughed. "I make you sick." She said, amused.
"Every time I look at you, I feel like someone kicked me in the stomach." Jess said honestly. He remembered talking to Claire about this, and used her words next, "You take my breath away."
Rory sniffed back a few tears. "I love you, and I want you to be happy."
Jess smiled. "I love you too, and you make me happy."
Rory brought her hand to his face and said, "Don't move out of this apartment."
Jess smiled, but said nothing. He brought his face to Rory's and gave her a sweet, lingering kiss.
Rory pulled away. "I shouldn't have asked you to make that decision."
Jess smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. "You shouldn't have." He agreed.
"Can we not be fighting anymore?" Rory asked sweetly.
Jess nodded and kissed her forehead. "Agreed, as long as you realize that there's a good chance that this ceasefire will probably last less than 24 hours."
Rory smiled. "You have a deal." They kissed again.
