(I spent as much time as I could, trying to make sure it wasn't rushed, tell me what you think. This is NOT the last chapter.)
A large, murky, gray building loomed in front of Rory. It was dirty and depressing, painfully squashed by the overwhelming need of numerous New Yorkers. She looked down at a piece of paper, well worn and creased from being opened and crushed so many times. It held an address and a room number, 6B. The address, 456. Just three numbers, strokes of pen on paper. But on the building-on the building it was a label, it was a sign. It said, "Jess is here." Fears suddenly appeared in her once clear mind, trying to convince her Jess was only a shadow of the past, that she was just nervous about the marriage proposal. But then she thought of the kids in the dream, that feeling. And what worthwhile thing was easy? She wanted to go home. She was ready to go home.
Rory took a deep breath, and headed towards the building. She found the call button-6B. A slightly angry voice crackled through the speaker.
"What." Rory opened up her mouth, but the reality of the situation hit her hard and the air was knocked out of her body. "Tony, is that you?" the voice crackled again. Rory breathed in heavily. Exhaled. "Hello?' Jess uncharacteristically continued to try to connect with the mysterious figure on the other end.
"Its Rory," She surprised herself with her loud volume. The other end remained silent for a minute. Then a loud buzz invited her into the building. Elevator on the left, second floor. Her nerves were tingling, her heart beating unhealthily fast. The minutes were less than seconds. Her feet did not even seem to move, she was soon at 6B. She stared at the stained and rusty gold numbers, barely feeling the wood on her knuckles and she knocked. The door swung open almost instantly, as if he had been waiting by the door. Jess looked cleaner then their last encounter-his hair was neatly cut and his face was clean. There was only a shadow of stubble over his strong jaw that showed any resemblance to the old, broken Jess. And the eyes, the honey brown eyes were exactly the same. They stared at her in a way that made her feel naked and exposed. This was happening.
Jess lowered his piercing gaze for a moment, looking at the ground. They were both lost, they both did not know. After spending so much time pretending they knew everything, here they were, lost. He looked up at her again. She took the chance and gestured into the room, asking to enter.
"Oh, oh yeah." He stepped backwards and held the door open for her. Rory clutched her purse to her shoulder and walked into a room the size of her childhood bedroom. The only reason it seemed that big, Rory noticed as she looked around the room, was because the room was empty except for boxes scattered over the dirty floors.
"Are you moving?" That was good, multiple words. A question, maybe it could even be a conversation starter. Maybe it would get them somewhere.
"Yeah, bigger apartment." Rory nodded, still not facing him. She seized in the dark apartment that smelled of mildew and alcohol. Then she just stood, unsure.
"What part of New York are you moving to, same building?" she asked awkwardly, finally turning to face him.
"Rory, what are you doing here?" Jess asked bluntly, "Last time I saw you, you were practically shoving me out of your dorm." She grimaced; she had forgotten how cruel she had acted.
"I know," she said with remorse.
"So, what do you want? What could I possibly offer you?" Rory tried to gather up the courage to tell the truth, to find the truth.
"I-my boyfriend proposed to me." Jess's face fell, but he tried to recover as quickly as possible and resorted to anger.
"So you came to rub it in my face? Couldn't just leave a message on my machine? Had to come all the way out here and really rub it in, huh?" Her last impression on him had really been awful. She shook her head in exasperation.
"I turned it down, Jess." His face melted away from anger and into pure surprise.
"Oh." Rory nodded. How did she do this? How could she push through all their barriers, was it possible to give them a future?
"Not the right ring?" He tried to get the whole answer with sarcasm.
"More like not the right," she exhaled nervously, "person." She looked at him, trying to get her eyes to tell him what she wanted, what she felt. Jess continued to act dumb-he wanted to hear it.
"Saving yourself for Nick Lachey?" Rory ignored the sarcasm, biting her lip nervously as she knew what was about to come out of them.
"More like . . . you." He watched her, his face whipped from her sudden confession. He rubbed his eyes with his hand, so much in his head at once.
"I'm sorry, you want me to propose?"
"No! No, of course not!'
"I'm a little confused." He dropped his hand to look at her again with intensity. "I came for you and you told me, you said to my face you didn't want to be with me. That you don't want to be with me."
"I was confused! You just came into my room and started throwing all these propositions at me, asking me to leave my mom and my school, and then you left! I didn't know if you were serious or you were going to change you mind!" She moved towards him, trying to convince him of her sincerity, but he backed away, still searching for useless answers.
"You SAID you didn't want to be with me. And now you're coming in her, throwing this at me."
"Jess, I've had two years to think about this, and I.." she sighed, and he looked at her with expectation, "I just know. You were right." He continued to watch, feeling it was to good to be true. It had to be a trick; having the thing he wanted more than anything laid in front of him in such a convincing disguise.
Rory felt herself start to cry, so desperate for his arms, for his heat, for his smell. The tears stung. "I want this Jess. I want you!" His face was still working it out, and after a long minute he stayed silent. Rory's heart fell ten stories. She was too late. She brought her hands to her face, trying to slow the tears, trying to hide from her mistake.
"I'll just leave." She began to turn, her eyes looking away from him, but suddenly something changed. Warmth was on her arm, pulling her back in. Arms were around her body, his warmth traveling in her body, his heart beating against hers in a rhythm. This was what bliss was, she thought to herself.
"It's always going to be us, Rory." He said quietly, and kissed her forehead. She burrowed deeper into his chest, enveloped in him. Rory hadn't felt so much ecstasy, so much at home, since her last two years of high school. And she finally knew it wasn't just another adolescent romance.