No Gray Space

Because Lit is Always Black and white.

Summary: What if Rory wrote to Jess during the summer she spent in Washington? Yes, this originally was a what if Swan Song went differently story but I didn't like it, so I rewrote it and I like this much, much better.

Pairings: Rory/ Dean, hinted Lit, hinted Java Junkie.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the computer I'm writing this on.

No man us an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man

is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a

Clod bee washed away by the sea, Europe is the lesse,

as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if the Mannor

of thy friends or thine owne were; any mans

death diminished me, because I am in-

volved in Mankinde; And therefore

never send to know for

whom the bell tolls;It

tolls for thee.

John donne

Chapter 1-The Bell Tolls For Thee

Jess,

I probably should have written a few weeks ago. Okay, so I definitely should have written a few weeks ago. I'm in D.C., if you haven't already figured that out which you probably have. I'm here with Paris because we were elected for president and vice-president. It's supposed to be a good experience for those of us really interested in Politics. We have mock debates; it's actually kind of fun. She's the one who made me think to write this letter. She was arguing with another girl in the program about For Whom the Bell Tolls last week and as soon as I heard the name Hemingway, I went out and bought it. I even read it, the whole thing in one night. Don't you love how they never once call him Jordan, always Robert Jordan? I couldn't believe the ending. He was so close to freedom, it was realism above its times. I tried talking to Paris about it but she didn't exactly share my views on Maria. She thought that she was the slut of those times and if she was pregnant it served her right. So what did you think?

Have you been reading anything by Ayn Rand? If you don't like The Fountainhead I can always send you Philosophy: Who Needs It or The Virtue of Selfishness. I love what she says in the introduction to The Fountainhead but she dedicated it to her husband to make her happy before that I never understood why people dedicated books; almost nobody knows who they're talking about. When I was younger I even went through a phase of going to the library and looking up people on dedication of books I read. I found two names that turned out to be semi-important. So how's the diner? Is Luke driving you crazy yet? If he drives you too crazy, I'll give you my phone number here and help you to distract Mrs. Kim so Lane can escape. Never go see Lane without calling me first. As you may have noticed Mrs. Kim is slightly prejudice against non-Korean people, more specifically male non-Koreans. If she ever does see you talking to Lane run, fast. I've got to go to dinner now. I'm sorry I didn't write before.

-Rory

Rory,

If you like For Whom the Bell Tolls you should try The Garden of Eden, I won't give anything away though. I found it brilliant how he killed of Robert Jordan actually; I can't say I liked Maria much though. I did like Pilar's character though; she was so bold and controlling. I love the way she described Pablo and his followers killing off the fascists. I did finish The Fountainhead, I didn't like Peter Keating. He just breezed through his life thinking he was better than everyone else. He reminded me of Chuck Presby actually. I do like Howard Roark's character despite what you may have to say about him; I loved him from the first chapter when he drove the dean and Mrs. Keating mad. I wish I could bring him here for an afternoon just to have him drive Taylor crazy. Luke is driving me crazy, he docked my pay for the first two weeks I came back, he said it was for all the school supplies he's going to have to buy because I came back. Taylor's been in an extra festival oriented mood lately and it's making Unc crankier than usual. I don't know if Taylor has a previous record but last week alone he threw a National Barrel Day celebration, a Forth of July fest, and a Swim, Swim, Swim day. Someone drilled a hole in the kiddy pool on Swim, Swim, Swim day and, in complete honesty, it wasn't me. I was blamed, of course, looks like we might have another town hoodlum on our hands. Your mom and Luke still haven't made up, in case you didn't know. It's driving him insane; especially when she comes so close to coming in she opens the door then runs down the street to Weston's. Every time she does that everything seems to magically start to taste worse. I even caught him pouring hot sauce into Kirk's pancake batter when he asked what they were fighting about. Kirk ate those pancakes faster than usual; he didn't even try to bug Luke to lower the price. I've got to go, Luke's claiming he'll drag my ass downstairs if I don't come willingly.

-Jess