Through Your Eyes #1: People Change
By: Apolla
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc. Oh, but I do own Milo (sucks for you!).
Pairings: Literati and Java Junkie. I'm sorry, I didn't know there were any other options :p
Setting: This story starts about one month after That'll Do, Pig.
Don't Worry: Allow me to put your fears to rest. No matter what happens along the way, in the end, Rory & Jess and Luke & Lorelai will be together.
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"So, Mom, what are you and Luke doing today?" Rory asked Lorelai on Friday morning.
It was Valentine's Day, and Rory had plans with Jess that night. "Haha, very funny. Don't say a word about it to him. I didn't tell him what I said to my parents," Lorelai told Rory.
"Okay. At least you go in there again now."
"Yeah, uh-huh," Lorelai said distractedly.
Rory looked at her mother sympathetically. Ever since Emily and Rory had told Lorelai about Luke's feelings for her, Lorelai had walked around as if she was in a daze. Dad's news probably didn't help, Rory thought.
Although, on second thought, Rory didn't think that Gigi was the problem. After she had gotten over the shock, Lorelai had seemed fine. It looked like she was finally moving on.
"Ready to go to Luke's?" Rory asked.
"Of course. Coffee!" Lorelai said, perking up.
Rory was glad her mother was beginning to act like her old self again. It had been weird for the last few days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what are you two doing tonight?" Lorelai asked Rory and Jess.
Jess had come over to pour them coffee. "No," he told Rory.
"I didn't put her up to it!" she said, defending herself.
"Put me up to what?" Lorelai asked, confused.
Rory pouted. "He won't tell me what we're doing tonight."
Lorelai gasped. "You won't? What kind of boyfriend are you?"
"A mysterious one," Jess told her.
Rory stuck her lower lip out even further. "Good girl," Lorelai told her.
"What did she do?" Luke asked, coming over.
"Look at that face," Lorelai said.
Rory stuck out her lower lip and gave Luke big eyes. "See that?" Lorelai continued proudly. "That, my friend, is half of the Gilmore charm."
She paused, then looked at Luke and Jess accusingly. "Aren't you going to ask what the other half is?"
"No," they both replied.
"The other half," Lorelai plowed on, pretending she hadn't heard them, "is our incredible wit."
Jess smirked and Luke rolled his eyes. "Right," Luke said.
"It is! Right, child of mine?"
"Right," Rory agreed.
"Lukey, I need coffee," Lorelai said, changing the subject.
"No."
"Luuuuuukey," Lorelai whined.
She pouted and looked at Luke with big eyes. "Please?" she asked.
"Oh, all right."
He left, and Lorelai turned to Rory. "See? That's how it's done."
She gestured to Jess. "Use it on him, baby. He won't be able to hold out. Astound him with your beauty, and use the Gilmore charm to get answers out of him."
"I am right here, you know," Jess told Lorelai.
"Gee, how did I miss that sarcastic attitude of yours staring me in the face?" Lorelai asked, turning to him.
"And you call me sarcastic?" Jess asked.
"Jess," Rory began.
She waited until he looked at her, then gave him big eyes. She leaned towards him. "Can't you tell me where we're going?"
"It's not going to work," Jess told her.
Rory started to pout, and Jess turned around. "I'll see you tonight," he called.
Rory turned back to her mother defeatedly, propping her chin up in her hands. "Well, that didn't work."
"Oh, it would have. See how he left? He knew if he stayed any longer, he'd give in. Still, you'll have to work on him. Look how well I have Luke conditioned. HEY BURGER MAN, GIMME SOME MORE COFFEE!" Lorelai yelled across the diner.
"Yeah, but Jess is my boyfriend. Why do you have to condition Luke? I thought that was something we only did with boyfriends."
"You're just going to keep throwing the whole you-want-Luke thing back in my face, aren't you," Lorelai said to her.
"Yes," Rory said resolutely.
"You're the spawn of the devil."
"Yes I am. 'Bye Satan. Gotta get to school."
"'Bye spawn."
Jess came over and followed Rory out the door. "I'm going to school!" he yelled to Luke.
"You know what's weird?" Luke said, coming over to Lorelai. "That's not a joke anymore."
"You mean he's been going to school?" Lorelai asked, surprised.
"Yup."
"How'd you manage that?"
Luke shrugged. "I think it's Rory's influence. Or maybe Maggie. Or maybe both. It's not me."
"Sure it is. You made that rule, remember? You told him he has to graduate."
"Yeah, but - " Luke stopped. "You can't tell Rory this, okay?"
"What?"
"Jess read a book for school, and he actually did a paper about it."
"What?!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Doesn't Rory know?"
"I don't think so."
"You got him to do this?"
"No……….I think it was Maggie."
"This Maggie is sounding more and more interesting. One of these days, just you wait. I'm going to catch all of you by surprise and just show up, and then BAM!" Lorelai banged her hand on the table. "She won't be able to escape me, and I'll meet her."
"Don't hurt my table."
"Did it ever occur to you that I hurt my hand?"
"Yes."
"And you don't care? What if I am severely injured?" Lorelai said, cradling her hand.
"Then you wouldn't be talking so much," Luke said, getting up to leave the table.
"Oh, come on, it's part of the Gilmore charm."
Luke scowled at her, but poured her some coffee. "I love you!" Lorelai cried happily.
The words slipped out before Lorelai realized what she had said. She had said it to Luke before, but now that she knew what she knew……….now it was different. Luke never said anything to her about it, and he didn't this time either.
However, this time, one thing was different. Lorelai snuck a glance at Luke, and she saw it. She saw it in his eyes. Emily and Rory had been telling her the truth. A part of her had tried her hardest to ignore it, but another part of her had always known. And now………..she had seen it with her own eyes.
Lorelai didn't know what to do, so she got up and ran out of the diner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me."
"No."
There was a pause. Then Rory said again, "Tell me."
"No," Jess repeated.
"Tell - "
"No."
Rory pouted. "Oh, no. You're not using that on me," Jess told her.
It had become routine now for Jess to wait with Rory for her bus. The whole time they had been walking to the bus stop, Rory had been trying to get Jess to tell her what they were going to be doing that night.
"But - "
Jess stopped walking, grabbed Rory, and kissed her. "I'm not telling you," he breathed into her ear.
He felt Rory shiver. "Okay," she said, leaning in for another kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean had been on his way to school when he saw Jess and Rory walking. Jess had his arm slung around Rory's shoulders, and they appeared to be arguing about something. Rory kept talking, and Jess would just say one word to her, over and over, smirking.
He saw Rory pout, and then he saw Jess stop, grab Rory, and kiss her. Dean could see him whisper something in Rory's ear, and then Rory said something back before kissing him again.
Dean scowled. He knew that he was the one that had broken up with Rory, and he knew that he should stop watching them because it was kinda weird, but it was like one of those bad reality shows that you want to stop watching but you just can't.
Dean hated seeing Rory with Jess. He had always known she had a thing for Jess, but she thought her little fling with him would be over by now, she would realize how much she loved and missed him, and they would get back together. He wasn't sure how much longer he could wait before he beat Jess to a pulp. That, however, might ruin his chances of getting back together with Rory.
Dean sighed, then continued on his way to school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sookie!" Lorelai called frantically as she made her way into the kitchen. "Sookie!"
"What is it? What's wrong?" Sookie asked, coming up to Lorelai.
"I saw it."
"Um, okay. What's it?" Sookie asked, a confused expression on her face.
Lorelai started pacing and wringing her hands. "Luke. This morning. In his eyes. I saw it."
"Oh, his secret love for you? You finally saw it?" Sookie asked excitedly.
Lorelai stopped pacing and looked at Sookie. "Sookie! How does everyone except me know about this? My own mother knew!"
"Oh, no, honey, not everyone knows."
"Did you know?" Lorelai asked demandingly as Jackson walked in to the kitchen.
"Know what?"
"That Luke liked me."
"Lorelai, everyone knows that. Honey, what do you think of these cabbages?" Jackson asked, turning to Sookie.
Sookie took one out and began examining it. "They're great," she told him, beaming happily.
"Hello! Forget the vegetables for a moment. Even Jackson knew, Sookie! How did everyone know except for me?"
"You needed to realize it on your own," Sookie told her gently.
"Luke's much more patient than me," Jackson added. "I mean, he's been waiting for you for it's years."
Lorelai stared at Jackson, then started pacing and wringing her hands again. "Honey! Not helping!" Sookie told him.
"Oh. Sorry. I'll just go, uh, get the tomatoes."
"Good idea," Sookie said, patting his shoulder.
Abandoning the cabbages, Sookie guided Lorelai to sit down on a stool. "Honey, calm down. Stop pacing, you'll get dizzy."
"Right. Sorry."
"It's okay. Now, listen. Yes, Luke has been in love with you for a long time - "
"Been in love? I thought he just liked me! Sookie!" Lorelai wailed, jumping up and wringing her hands again.
"Sweetie! Sit!" Sookie said, gently yet firmly.
Lorelai sat down again. "Now, Luke has been in love with you for a long time. It's about time you realized it, and you have to decide what you're going to do. You have to decide if you want to be just friends, or more, because while you've been at this middle stage for years, I don't think Luke wants to wait much longer."
Lorelai just stared at her blankly. "Middle stage?" she finally repeated.
"Oh, honey, you're always flirting with him."
"No, I'm not, I don't, I - " she stopped.
Lorelai put her head in her hands. "Oh my God, I do do that," she moaned.
She looked up at Sookie. "I don't know what to do," she told Sookie helplessly.
Sookie sat down next to her and patted her hand. "Lorelai, listen to me. You just need to be calm and rational, and think this through. It won't be that hard, you'll see."
"Right," Lorelai said, nodding. "Calm. Rational. I will be Ms. Calm and Rational."
She slumped in her chair. "Sookie!" Lorelai wailed. "I have never been calm and rational!"
"Oh. Yes. Well…….there's a first time for everything, right?" Sookie said, sounding unsure.
"Right," Lorelai agreed, sounding equally uncertain.
They looked at each other, then looked away. "Right," they both said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Paris, are you and Jamie doing anything tonight?" Rory asked during school that day.
"Maybe. Why? What are you and Jess doing?"
Rory shrugged. "I don't know. He won't tell me."
"Surprise, huh? I never like surprises."
"I know you don't, Paris. So I'm sure Jamie told you what you're doing tonight."
"We're going out to this really nice restaurant. It's called Mi Amor."
"Wow, really?" Madeline asked.
She and Louise came over and sat by Rory and Paris. "Yes, really. Why?" Paris asked, sounding slightly nervous.
"That place is really romantic," Louise told her.
"Really romantic? How romantic? What do people wear to those places?" Paris said, sounding panicked. "I can't go. Absolutely not."
"Paris, calm down. Just wear a nice dress, put your hair up, and everything will be fine," Rory reassured her.
"Yeah," Madeline said.
"Right," Louise agreed.
"What are you two doing tonight?" Paris asked Madeline and Louise.
"Well………….."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jess parked his car in front of Chilton that afternoon. He had decided to surprise Rory and pick her up. Not seeing her anywhere, Jess got out of the car and decided to go and find her.
This place is pretty impressive, he thought. Pretty impressive? Who was he kidding? The school was extremely impressive, and Jess felt a little out of place. Who was he? Just some troublemaker from New York. He knew that Rory sometimes felt out of place at Chilton too, but at least it was in her blood. It wasn't like that for him.
His steps slowing as he entered the school, he looked around and was immediately relieved when he saw Paris and two other girls standing by a group of lockers. "Hey Paris," he said, casually walking over to her.
"Oh, hey. If you're looking for Rory, she's probably at her locker."
"Yeah. Where is it?"
"Down the hall and to your left."
"Okay. Thanks."
"No problem."
"Wait, aren't you going to introduce us?" Madeline asked Paris.
Paris rolled her eyes. "Jess, this is Madeline, and this is Louise. Girls, this is Jess, Rory's boyfriend."
"We were wondering why we hadn't seen you before," Louise said.
"Because we definitely would have remembered," Madeline added with a small smile.
Jess stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Nice meeting you, ladies," he said.
Jess turned and walked away, and heard the two other girls whispering to Paris about him, causing him to smirk. Nice to know that he had that effect even on the rich girls.
Jess saw Rory digging through her locker for something, and came up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. "Hey," he said.
Rory turned around to face him, her eyes lighting up. "Hey yourself," she said with a smile.
She leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "What are you doing here?"
"Thought I'd give you a ride home."
"Really?"
"No, I just drove out here to say hi, and now I'm going back home. You can take the bus," Jess told her sarcastically.
Rory shook a finger in his face. "None of that, mister!"
Jess grabbed her hand, then leaned forward and kissed her. "Okay."
Rory beamed at him. "Just let me get my stuff."
Jess looked into her overflowing backpack. "What the hell's in here?" he asked her.
"Schoolwork. And books," she added with a sheepish smile.
"The truth comes out."
"Come on, let's go."
They walked out to Jess' car, and Jess waved at Paris, Madeline, and Louise on the way out. Paris gave him a slight nod, and Madeline and Louise waved back, giggling.
"What was that all about?" Rory asked him, amused, as they walked out.
"I met them on the way in."
"I'm going to have to keep my eye on you."
Jess smirked. "I don't mind."
Rory blushed, causing Jess' smirk to widen. He loved making her blush. It was just too easy.
They got into his car and talked on the ride home. Rory asked him a few times where they were going, but he wouldn't say. "But I won't know what to wear!" she told him. "What are you wearing?"
Jess shrugged. "Whatever's clean."
"Do I have to dress up?"
"Um…….no?"
"You don't even know what girls wear to…….wherever we're going. That's why you have to tell me, so I know what to wear."
"Wear whatever you want. I'm not going to tell you," Jess told her stubbornly.
"Fine. If I'm overdressed, it's your fault. And if I'm underdressed, that's your fault too."
"I can live with it."
Rory let out a sigh of frustration. "Come on! Just tell me!"
"No."
Jess smirked, and Rory sat back and crossed her arms. "You're enjoying this," she accused him.
"Yes I am."
"I don't like you very much right now."
"Huh."
They drove by Rory's bus stop and saw Dean sitting there. "Looks like somebody was waiting for you," he told Rory.
Jess pulled over to where Dean was sitting. "Jess, what are you doing?" Rory asked.
Jess rolled down Rory's window, since Dean was on her side. "Hey, bag boy, need a ride somewhere?" he asked.
Dean looked up and saw Rory sitting in Jess' car. "No, Mariano, I'm good."
"Suit yourself."
Jess peeled away, and Rory closed her window. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I don't know why he was there," Rory told Jess.
Jess shrugged. "It's okay. That was fun."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke was wiping counters when he heard the phone ring. "Hello, Luke's," he answered.
"Mr. Danes?" came a female voice on the other line.
"Yes, this is him. Who is this?"
"I'm calling about Jess."
Luke groaned. "What did he do this time?"
The woman on the other end laughed. "It's nothing like that. I'm his English Lit teacher, Mrs. Rhodes."
Luke was puzzled. "Well, Mrs. Rhodes, how can I help you?" he asked.
"I'd like to talk to you about Jess."
"Um, okay," Luke said cautiously.
"Don't worry, it's good. I'd like to discuss the paper he just turned in with you. Can you meet me Monday afternoon, after school?"
"Uh, sure," Luke replied.
"Great. I'm in room 108. I'll see you at three."
"Room 108. Three o'clock. Got it."
"All right. Goodbye."
"'Bye."
Luke hung up the phone and stared at it. Never, not since Jess had moved here, had he received a call from Stars Hollow High that had been good. Never. He looked up as Jess came in and just stared at him. "What?" Jess asked.
"Uh, nothing."
Jess shook his head and muttered something about how Lorelai was rubbing off on Luke and he was acting crazy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mom! I don't know what to wear!" Rory wailed, walking in to the kitchen.
"Still couldn't get anything out of him, huh?"
"No!"
"Well, this is Jess we're talking about, so I'm definitely not thinking that you have to dress up, dress up."
"So, no dress?"
"No, I'm sure a skirt will be good."
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Ooooh, I have the perfect outfit!"
She started digging through Rory's closet, and pulled out a few articles of clothing. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed.
Lorelai had found a short, dark red skirt and low-cut black shirt. "All you need are some great black shoes," Lorelai told her. "Come on, let's go to my room."
Rory followed her mother upstairs and Lorelai started digging through her closet. "How about these?" she said, holding up black stilettos.
"Too dressy."
"Hmm," Lorelai said, giving the shoes an once-over. "You're right."
She continued digging through her closet, then let out a muffled cry. "Aha!" Lorelai said, turning around to face Rory. "How about these?"
Rory looked at the shoes. They were black, open-toed with a chunky heel. Rory nodded. "I like," she said.
"Good."
Lorelai looked back in her closet again. "Here," she said, tossing Rory a dark blue jean jacket. "This will help dress you down if you need it, and if you don't then leave it in the car."
"Good idea."
"I am full of them, aren't I?"
"Yes, Mommy."
"Good girl. Now go get dressed."
Rory ran back to her room and threw the clothes on, then looked at herself in the mirror. "I look horrible!" Rory cried out as Lorelai entered the room.
"No you don't!"
"Yes I do! What should I do with my hair?"
Lorelai pondered this for a moment. "Leave it down," she finally said. "Come on. I'll do your makeup."
Lorelai just finished Rory's makeup when the doorbell rang. Rory froze. "I can't go. I look horrible. Tell him I'm sick."
"Honey, what's the matter? Why don't you want to go?" Lorelai asked, concerned.
"What if I say something stupid?"
"Like…….."
"Like, oh, I don't know, what if I tell him I love him?"
"Just don't think about it," Lorelai advised her. "You'll be fine."
"Right. Okay."
"Take a deep breath."
"Ok, taking a deep breath."
"Now hold it."
"Mom!"
"Just kidding. You can exhale."
The doorbell rang again. "Oh. Maybe one of us should answer that," Lorelai said. "I'll get it, you make sure you look perfect."
"Okay."
Lorelai went to the door and flung it open. "Hiya, Jessie," she greeted him.
"Hiya, Lor - "
"Don't you dare."
"What?"
Lorelai stuck a warning finger in his face. "Call me that again, and you die. Boyfriend or not. Rory will get over it."
"Okay."
"So……wanna come in?" Lorelai asked.
"Okay."
Jess came in and Lorelai closed the door. They stood in silence in the entrance. "So," Lorelai said.
"So," Jess said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Where are you guys going?"
"Not telling."
"Oh, come on," Lorelai pouted.
"No."
"Fine," Lorelai said, crossing her arms.
There was silence again. "So what are your big plans for tonight?" Jess finally asked.
Lorelai started stuttering. "Oh, I, uh, I, well, you know, I, I wonder where Rory is!"
Jess smirked. Lorelai obviously didn't know that he knew about what she had told her parents about Luke. "Rory!" Lorelai called, sounding a little desperate.
Rory walked in, feeling nervous. She knew she shouldn't worry, but what if she said it? She didn't want things between her and Jess to get messed up, not when they had been going so well lately.
"Hey," Jess said.
"Hey," Rory said back.
Rory grabbed the jean jacket, then kissed her mother on the cheek. "'Bye Mom," she said. "Have a good time with Fred."
"Oh, I will. I've been meaning to spend some quality time with him."
"Are you still talking about the coffee maker?" Jess asked.
"How many other Fred's do you know?" Lorelai asked in a duh-isn't-it-obvious tone of voice.
"Have a good time! But not too good of a time. Be home by midnight."
"Okay."
"'Bye," Jess said to Lorelai.
Lorelai looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered. "'Bye loverboy."
Jess and Rory walked to Jess' car and got in. "You look pretty," he told her, not all that comfortable giving compliments.
"Thanks," Rory said.
She wasn't that comfortable receiving compliments. Jess leaned over and gave her a kiss before starting the car. "So where are we going?" Rory asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I'm still not telling."
"Please?"
"No."
Jess started driving, and Rory kept asking. Finally Jess stopped the car. "We're here," he told her.
Rory looked around eagerly, getting out of the car. "Where are we?" she asked.
"Hartford."
Rory looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah."
Jess put an arm around her. "C'mon."
He led her to a small, unmarked building tucked away in an alley. There was no sign or anything. "What's this place called?" she asked.
"It's called Los Libros de Amore," Jess said, answering her.
"Los Libros de Amore?" Rory repeated.
"It's Spanish. It means 'The Books for Love'."
"Let's go in!" Rory said, sounding curious and excited.
"Okay."
Jess opened the door and Rory stepped through and eagerly looked around. She was amazed by what she saw. All sorts of people were in there. She saw couples dressed in expensive outfits and couples dressed in what looked like secondhand clothes. One thing everyone had in common was they were holding a book.
Everyone was either reading or discussing books, making the room gently hum with human voices. The lighting was dim, but not so much so that it was impossible to read.
But what Rory soon noticed, as Jess led her through shelves of books, was that you could eat there. There were tables among bookshelves, and waiters moved through the throngs of people reading and discussing literature.
Jess went up to a man dressed in a tux and said "Mariano, in classics."
The man took a pad of paper out of his pocket and checked off the name. "Ah, of course. This way."
Jess took Rory's hand, and they followed the man to a table that, sure enough, was in the classics section. "Your waiter will be with you in a moment," he said as Rory and Jess sat down.
He handed them both menus. "Enjoy your evening."
Jess looked at Rory for her reaction, trying extremely hard not to look nervous. "Jess, this place is amazing!" Rory exclaimed. "How did you ever find it?"
"Maggie told me about it," Jess said, relieved that Rory seemed to like it. "Like it?"
"I love it! Oh my gosh, I can't believe this!" she said
"A nice restaurant where it's not impolite to read at the table?" Jess supplied for her.
Rory grinned. "Exactly! How did Maggie know about this place?"
Jess shrugged. "She lives in Hartford."
"She lives here now?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah. She did before, too. She said she lived in Hartford her whole life, but then twenty years ago she moved to England."
"She lived in England for the past twenty years? Why'd she move back to Hartford?" Rory asked curiously.
"I don't know. She just said it was 'time for her to move home'."
Rory nodded. "That sounds like something she'd say."
"Yeah."
Their conversation was interrupted by the waiter. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, your turn," Rory said two hours later.
Jess reached behind him and picked out another book by Hemmingway. "Ha!" he told her triumphantly.
"That is not fair! How are you doing that?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said.
They both started laughing. "Ok, go," she said, after they had stopped.
"All right. This is a good book because…….."
Rory and Jess had started playing a 'game' Rory had cooked up while they were eating dinner. Without looking, they had to reach behind them and pick out a book, then tell the other why it was a great book. It had been hard for Rory because a couple of times she had picked out books she had absolutely hated. But Jess picked out a book by Hemmingway every single time!
"Your turn," Jess said to her.
"Okay."
Rory reached behind her and picked out a book. She looked at the title. "No!" she cried.
It was Farewell to Arms. "No. Not fair. You're cheating somehow."
"Nope. I'm just lucky. Now go."
Rory groaned. "This is a good book because……uh……because………uh…… because my boyfriend likes it!"
"Good answer."
"Thank you, I thought so."
Rory sat back in her chair and looked around again. "Ready to go?" he asked her.
"I guess. I love this place, though."
"We can come back anytime."
"I'm holding you to that."
"Okay."
Jess took Rory's hand and led her out to his car. They got in, and Jess started driving back to Stars Hollow. "Where are we going?" Rory asked.
"Stars Hollow."
"It's only quarter to ten," Rory told him as he drove.
"I know."
"You're not telling me again, right?"
"Right."
Rory sighed resignedly and looked out the window. Jess stopped the car when they got to the bridge. "Come on," he said.
Rory grinned. "Oooh, we're here," she said, jumping out of the car.
Jess went around back and opened the trunk. He took out a blanket and basket. "We're having a picnic on the bridge?" Rory asked him.
"Yeah. Great idea, huh?"
"Really original. I mean, no one ever has picnics on the bridge."
"Right. Who would do something like that?"
"Just us," Rory said softly with a smile.
Jess spread out the blanket and they sat down. "What's in the picnic basket?" Rory asked.
"Food."
"We just ate," Rory pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's you."
Rory smiled. "I am kinda hungry," she admitted.
She pulled the picnic basket towards her and opened it. "Oooh!" Rory said happily, grabbing the thermos of coffee.
She eagerly drank it. "It's Luke's!" she said.
Jess shook his head. "I know how addicted you are to that stuff."
Rory continued rooting around in the basket. She found a book and held it up. The moonlight was bright, so she was able to read it. "Oliver Twist!" she exclaimed, holding up Jess' battered copy.
She looked at him and giggled. "What?" he asked her.
"I got you a present."
She gave him a wrapped present. "Open it."
Jess opened it, then looked up with a grin. It was Oliver Twist. "It's a first-edition," Rory said.
Jess flipped it open and saw Rory had written something on the cover. He squinted to make it out. It read:
For My Artful Dodger
February 14, 2003
Love, Your Princess
"What do you think?" Rory asked him anxiously.
Jess leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Thanks," he said simply.
Rory beamed, glad he had liked it. "Keep looking," he said, gesturing towards the picnic basket.
Rory stuck her hand in the basket and pulled out a box of coffee-flavored chocolates. "Ooh, better hide these from my mom," Rory said.
"Good idea."
She kept looking, and found a bag of cookies - "Good, I'm starving," she said, ripping them open and popping one in her mouth - then picked up a small box. "What's this?" she asked.
Jess shrugged. "Open it," he said casually.
Rory looked at him, then unwrapped the box. It was a jewelry box. She opened it and found a silver chain with a silver heart outline dangling from it.
Rory looked up and her eyes met Jess'. She saw that vulnerable look in his eyes that he tried to hide from everyone, but that she sometimes saw.
Rory moved the picnic basket so that it was on the side, not in between them. She crawled over to Jess. "Put it on?" she asked.
"Okay."
She lifted up her hair, and Jess fastened the necklace's clasp in the back. The heart dangled for a moment, then settled on her chest as Rory sat back.
Jess lay on his back, pulling Rory down with him. She put her head on his shoulder and cuddled up next to him. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
"For what?"
"Everything," Rory said, leaning up on her elbow.
She leaned down and they shared a long, sweet kiss. Rory then lay down next to Jess, putting her hand on his chest, and they lay on their bridge, watching the night sky.
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Author's Note: Review! That's all I ask of you!
Coming in Chapter 7……..Rory tells Lorelai about her date with Jess, Lorelai continues freaking out over it, and Luke meets with Mrs. Rhodes about Jess.