Disclaimer: Not mine, so sue me if I'm using 'em. Sonnet 38 belongs to good ol' William Shakespeare. Episode transcripts from whatever site you can find them on.
Hey guys, loving the feedback. I was fearing you wouldn't like it. To answer some of your questions, let's just say I have a general idea of where I want it to go, but nothing definite as of yet. It is a literati, and we are going to have our happy ending, but right now I'm mad enough I could put them through a few trials and tribulations.
Oh, and for those of you who are worrying, I will not let Dean have Rory. Rest assured. No Narc. None whatsoever. Perish and banish the thought.
Chapter 2: Be Thou the Tenth Muse
A troubled teenaged couple walks on, a tight cocoon weaved of tangled thoughts transparently shrouding it from the rest of the world; their gazes are guarded and warning, daring anybody to come up to them and destroy this fragile equilibrium. Luckily, noone does.
The silence isn't easy, but it isn't exactly uncomfortable either... it's... pregnant... with expectation and hints of unfinished matters, and miles to go before the journey is actually through. They've been walking in silence for an hour now, circling Stars Hollow in every possible way and using every combination of streets, before finding themselves at the gas pump.
"Huh." They say in stereo, before looking at each other and rolling eyes simultaneously.
Rory takes careful steps and makes gentle moves, turning fully towards him and walking into the embrace she knows is waiting for her. Jess gingerly wraps his arms around her, places gentle kisses on her moonlit skin, trailing his lips on her cheek, her eyelid, her nose, before carefully asking for her lips. She gives them. As they hold each other, they wait for the world to spin back into place. Jess holds on to Rory, Rory stays firmly rooted to sanity and reality, forcing Jess to stay there with her, and for a moment everything falls back in place.
Disentangling, the silent cocoon still wrapped around them, they resume walking towards their original destination, and upon reaching it, seeing noone home, they step inside.
The answering machine shatters their trance, and they are both startled back to an even more immediate reality.
"Hey Sweets, things are, to put it nicely A MESS! I'll be here until we can sort out the last details...order pizza, go to Luke's, see Jess. I love you"
It sounds strained.
Rory knows that tone. Her mother is forcing herself to be at the inn, in order to retrieve whatever documents are still available, tie up loose ends, salvage everything worth saving. Lorelai and Sookie had been talking about opening their own inn, and the three of them had come up with many closure scenarios; saying goodbye to a burned down Independence Inn not being one of them.
Jess eyes Rory warily, at a loss for actions, words and thoughts. She goes to her rooms, almost forgetting that he's there with her, and plops down on her bed.
He follows.
He joins her.
He waits for her to acknowledge him, acknowledgement coming in shape of an arm on his torso, her head on his chest, one leg thrown over him.
"How can my muse want subject to invent
While thou dost breathe, that pou'st into my verse
Thine own sweet argument, too excellent
For every vulgar paper to rehearse?
O, give thyself the thanks if aught in me
Worthy perusal stand against thy sight;
For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,
When thou thyself dost give invention light?
Be thou the tenth muse, ten times more in worth
Than those old nine which rhymers invocate,
And he calls on thee, let him bring forth
Eternal numbers to outlive long date.
If my slight muse do please these curious days,
The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise."
"And quoting Shakespeare is going to help us how?" She inquires, but a slow grin is spreading on her face, making her eyes glow with happyness and... Jess doens't quite recognize the other sentiment deep within her blue gaze.
"I don't know" he replies, causing her grin to transform in chuckling.
"What?"
"You're quoting Sonnet # 38" chuckling turns to giggling, and giggling to side-splitting laugh.
"You... old... softie" She barely manages to choke out. It's contagious, and soon their laughter is making it hard to breathe. Sobering, tears in their eyes, a significant amount of tension has been released, easing the next portion of their conversation forward until they're staring right at it and avoiding it any longer is literally impossible.
"You old softie..." She whispers, as she gives him a lingering kiss.
"Luke kicked me out" he reluctantly admits, breaking it off.
He feels her nod against his chest, biting at his shirt to keep quiet until he finishes his thoughts. He feels wetness seeping through it, and smiles slightly.
"I lashed out at him, he lashed out at me" he winces as the fight plays over and over again in his mind. "We were frustrated." He manages to look at Rory, fabric still safely in her mouth.
"Is that any good?"
"Next best thing to coffee" she mumbles, not letting go of it quite yet. When she does, she replaces it with his index finger, gnawing slightly at it like a teething 1 year old. He lets her, as his other hand hooks through the belt loops on her jeans and toys with them.
The night is spent talking, reading, kissing, rehashing, listening to music. Various arguments are issued throughout the next twelve hours, leaving them physically exhausted and emotionally drained by the time morning rolls around to greet them with the smell of rain and coffe.
