Chapter 3- Books

Disclaimer- I wish I owned something, but alas, I don't

Author's Note- This is seriously like the first time I've ever written ANYTHING!! (Well, except for like term papers in school) So if it's bad, I'm sorry, but I'm learning…Is it okay so far? I'm kinda in a rut. I'm not quite sure how to get them finally together. I may need to make them a little out of character…but, eh, that's okay. Hope you like it!

Dedication- To Becky (if you ever find this! lol), we'll take him down one of these days…you know who I'm talking about…the "not so small one" hehe

"Ding, Ding"

The door clicked close as Rory stepped into a cool air conditioned book store in the heart of Hartford. On a quest to find a birthday present for her grandmother, she headed over to the gardening section. After picking up a few books on roses and garden water features, she made her way to the check-out line to pay. An old man was paying when she arrived, and she heard him arguing over the price of the book.

"Great, this is going to take forever," she muttered under her breath.

"The sign said 40% off!! I'm completely sure of it!" he yelled.

"Yes sir, but it comes up as 45% off in the computer, why are you yelling at me? You're saving more money!" (A/N Not kidding, a woman once did this to me while I was working in retail!!)

"I don't want to get a call saying I cheated the store out of money."

"I assure you that won't happen sir, now are you ready to pay; there are waiting customers behind you."

The old man mumbled something about the damn government and walked out of the store. As he started walking away, a clear view of the once hidden cashier was shown to Rory.

Jess.

Grinning, he took the books out of her hands and started scanning them.

"Hi Rory, planning on picking up a new summer hobby? I hear there are fountains for sale down the street at Hobby Lobby."

"Haha, no, these are a birthday present for my grandmother. I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, just started last week."

"Why are you working in Hartford? I thought you moved back to New York, that's what Luke said."

"I..uh…well, you know…living with my mom and TJ really wasn't working out, I moved out."

"Oh, so you live in Hartford then?" She was trying not to let on that she knew that Jess lived there.

"Yeah, I…uh, I'm actually going to summer school, trying to get my degree." He immediately regretted having said it. He had been planning on showing her his diploma once he got it, as a surprise.

"Oh my gosh Jess!! That's great! Wow! You've really turned around this year. I'm really happy for you!"

"Well, after having lived with my dad, I realize that I need to change. I don't want to end up like him."

"Well, I'm happy for you Jess, make sure to let me see your diploma once you get it!"

"Okay, your total is $35.87."

"Thanks Jess, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Rory."

She stepped back outside into the warm summer day with mixed feelings. Glad that Jess seemed to be working hard and doing something productive, yet somehow unhappy that he had moved so close to Stars Hollow. She wandered down the block, looking for a place to stop and get coffee. As she turned the corner a giant sign read "Free coffee from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. with any purchase off of our menu"

"Eh, I could eat," she said, looking at her watch, "12:10. Perfect timing, I'll get a fresh batch."

She ordered and sat down at one of the little iron tables set up outside the restaurant for the people who like to sit with watery eyes because the sun is too bright. After putting on her sunglasses to avoid looking like she was crying, she dove into her plate of cheese fries. Halfway through her cup of coffee, a familiar voice was heard behind her. She turned around in her chair to see Jess coming towards her with a fresh cup of coffee and a cheeseburger.

"Hey! I thought you were working!" she exclaimed, surprised at his gesture of sitting down at her table.

"I'm on lunch break now. So I thought I'd come down here to catch a bite to eat, and you're here, so I figured we could catch up a little."

There was an awkward silence as Rory suddenly found a crack in the sidewalk very interesting.

"As long as that's okay with you, you don't have to be anywhere do you? I don't want to intrude."

"Oh, no no! I was just zoning out. It's okay Jess, you can stay."

"Okay, good. I want to talk to you about something. Oh, here I brought you a fresh cup of coffee."

"Thanks, you didn't need to do that."

"Eh, it was a ploy to get you to stay longer," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, if I have to, you know I could wolf this thing down faster than a jack rabbit in the springtime!"

They both laughed, but the air was full of tension. Not knowing what to say, they both sat in silence for a few minutes eating their lunch.

"I'm a terrible person. I'm sorry Rory."

That's all it took. Rory looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She ran around the small table and threw her arms around him. He was stunned at first. He had expected her to half agree with him. But what he said was the truth, I mean he had broken her heart and left her in the dust, several times, but he truly WAS sorry. He loved her.

He didn't know what to do. He froze in his seat. He wanted to hug her more than anything in the world. But he just couldn't. He didn't understand why she was hugging him, he didn't deserve it after all the horrible things he had done.

She pulled away, her cheeks tear stained. She smiled at him and sat down in the chair next to his.

"Um, Rory? Why did you do that?"

"Jess, I…it's just that…I think I loved you. And I was thinking that if I did once, that maybe I could again… that's all."

"That's all? That's huge Rory!! Are you taking me back? This is amazing!!" he jumped up and hugged her, "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I'm a really rotten person, you don't deserve me."

"Oh my gosh! Jess, I knew two years ago that you were the one for me too! (A/N I'm sure you all know, but just in case…Jess told Rory that he knew they belonged together "two years ago" in Last Week Fights, This Week Tights) I'm sorry, I said no that night. I mean, I'm not saying that I didn't want you, but I didn't want to go away with you. I live here Jess, my mom is here, Yale, everything I have is in Stars Hollow. I couldn't just pick up and leave. That wouldn't be right."

"I know, I'm sorry I asked you to go away with me. It was stupid, I don't know what I was thinking."

"That's okay. I understand why you did it. I just want to make one thing clear. If we're going to make this work we need to communicate better. I think that's what the problem was before. Neither one of us knew how to really talk to each other. From now on we need to be completely honest and open with each other."

"I completely agree, I actually was going to say the same thing myself. I'm glad you feel the same way. I've gotta get back to work though."

"Noooo!!!" she said in a whiny voice, "I don't want you to go!" Jess smiled. "When do you get off of work?"

"6 o'clock," he said with a smirk, perfect for a dinner date.

"Ohhh!! Perfect! What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm hangin' out at the corner to try to make a few extra bucks."

"Ew!! Jess! Seriously."

"Nothin'. Why? What are you doing?"

"Well, I have dinner at my grandparents tonight, but from 6 to 7 I'm free…"

"Great! I can show you my apartment!"

"Cool! I'll meet you at your corner then!"

They both laughed and hugged again before saying goodbye, each with a grin on their faces.

Rory drove home excited yet nervous about telling her mom about her and Jess. What if she flipped out? What if she forbade it? What if, what if, what if. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she pulled into the driveway of their small colonial style house. Parking the car behind her mom's Jeep, she slowly walked up the front steps and pushed open the front door.

"Mom!! Home!!"

"Hi sweetie! I'm in the kitchen!"

Rory walked into the kitchen only to see that dishes, cups, pots and pans, and practically everything that was once safe and neatly packed in the kitchen cupboards strewn all over the floor and table, spilling out into the hallway and into Rory's room.

"Mom, what's going on in here?"

"Oh, I'm just doing a little spring cleaning!" came a voice from behind a box marked "SALT AND PEPA SHAKERS"

"Mom? You spelled pepper like the singing group!"

"I know!! They were on the radio when I was packing the salt and pepper shakers down and I thought it was amusing!!"

Rory giggled, "I have something to tell you mom."

"If it's about the lawn gnome in the front yard, I'm sorry, I know you don't like them. But the little gnome working on the toilet was just so funny I couldn't pass him up. I found him at a flea market and I fell in love with it!!"

"I didn't notice the lawn gnome in the front yard…but um…if you want one…go ahead, I can't stop you. No, this is about something else."

"Okay, shoot honey."

"Well, I was in Hartford today buying a present for Grandma's birthday and I ran into…"

"Speaking of which, dinner tonight was moved to 4:30. Grandma said she has something to tell us and it's important, so I don't know what's going on. Having dinner before 7:00 in the Gilmore house is like committing a murder or something! I'm sorry, Ror, I interrupted, who did you run into?"

"Um…Jess."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we talked. He lives there, has a job, is going to school to get his diploma, he has really straightened himself out."

"Wow, are you okay with him living so close? I mean I know you guys were talking before, but…"

"Yeah, um…we actually made a date for tonight, to you know, to catch up and stuff."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yeah, he's changed mom. He's different now."

"Okay, I trust you. But I just want to warn you about this, you may get hurt again."

"I know, I'll be careful. Geez, we'd better hurry if we're going to make it to Grandma's for dinner."

6:15 that evening

Huddled on a park bench on the corner where they agreed to meet, Jess sat and waited for Rory.

"She's late, what's going on? I hope I'm not being stood up," he muttered to himself pulling his jacket closer. For a considerably hot day, the evening was rather cool, and getting cooler with an approaching storm.

A silver, shiny car pulled up to the corner and the window slowly rolled down.

"I'm gonna go around the block and park," she yelled from the drivers seat.

"Wait! Why don't we just drive to my apartment?"

"Oh, okay, that's fine."

Jess slid into the passenger seat and Rory pulled away from the curb. He looked over at her tearstained face.

"Rory? What happened? Why are you crying? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just…"

He waited for her to continue, but she didn't.

"Take your time, you don't have to tell me until your ready." He knew that something must have happened at home.

He gave her the directions to his apartment and they drove there in silence. She parked and he got out and went around the car to open the door for her. They walked a short distance to a large, brick, six story building. They ascended the stairs and Jess unlocked the front door and ushered her in. They walked up six flights of stairs in silence. When they finally reached the top they both were out of breath.

"Had to be on the top floor didn't you?" she said jokingly.

"It's the best. Well, this is my apartment," he exclaimed as he opened the door and flipped on the light switch next to the door.

"It's really nice Jess," she said as she put her coat and purse down on the couch.

"This is the kitchen, not much there. And this is the office, again pretty empty. And here's my bedroom," he said as he moved from room to room.

The walls were bare, and the only furniture in the whole apartment was a beat up, old couch, a small TV, a bed and dresser, a desk and small bookcase. Boxes upon boxes marked "BOOKS" were stacked in the corner of the living room.

"Looks like you need some shelves. You should have Luke make you some."

"I don't really think he would do that for me. I mean I treated him pretty rotten."

"Are you kidding? Luke loves you, he would do anything for you."

"Eh, I don't know."

They sat down on the couch in silence once more. Jess was still waiting for Rory to open up to him. What's wrong with her?

"My grandparents are getting a divorce," she said it quietly almost anwering Jess's thoughts.

"Oh, Rory, I'm sorry!" He leaned over and gave her a hug and she leaned into him, wanted to be held. They sat there on the couch wrapped up in each other's arms until Rory fell asleep, exhausted and upset. Soon Jess was asleep too.

A/N: Please read and review!! A big surprise is coming in the next chapter!!