Chasing Dreams
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters.
Summary: Jess struggles with his ever-growing feeling for Rory, who is still dating Dean. Jess's POV of what happened during the Haunted Leg episode during the third season. Please R&R and let me know what you thought.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't deny it. I wanted her. I had wanted her ever since I first came to town. I had never met anyone quite like her before, her fiery spunk and quick tongue coupled with her sweet personality. There was something different about her, special. It's a shame she was wasting her time with Dean. He didn't deserve someone like her.
What do you and Dean talk about? A look of uncertainty had passed through her eyes as she hedged around my question, but she never fully answered it. But unknowingly she had already told me enough: Dean didn't deserve her, he barely knew her. Although they were dating, Dean's never seen certain aspects of Rory's personality that I have. Wasn't the whole point of dating to open up, to get to know each other? What was Rory hiding?
I glanced up, shaken out of my thoughts as a pair of approaching footsteps suddenly stopped, and locked gazes with Rory Gilmore. She stiffened, her gaze fixed on the ground.
"Doing a little bit of shopping?" I asked, nodding towards the basket she held.
"Yes." Without even looking up, she began to walk past. I reached out my arm, replacing a jar I had been studying on its shelf and effectively cutting her off. "Excuse me."
"Why the cold shoulder?"
"No cold shoulder," she said, shifting her gaze down to her basket. "I just have perishables here."
"Oh, yeah" I agreed, calling her bluff, "you wanna get home before that beefaroni goes bad."
"My mom's waiting for me."
She pushed her way around me and headed towards another aisle and picked up a cereal box. I followed. If she thought ignoring me would get rid of me, than she was wrong.
"How was your trip?"
"Fine."
"Do anything interesting?" I don't exactly know what I was hoping she would say, just making polite conversation I guess.
"Nope."
"Okay."
I nodded and turned my attention to a nearby shelf. Two could play this one word answer game. Abruptly, she placed a box of cereal in her basket before finally looking at me.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Anything interesting happen? This summer, I mean."
"Nope."
"Really?"
"Really."
An expression of disbelief crossed her face as she shook her head. "So nothing happened this summer, at all?"
I tilted my head to the side, as if deep in thought. "It was hot."
"I'm not talking about the weather," she exclaimed as she dropped her shopping basket on a counter and turned towards me.
"What are you talking about then?" I was tired of playing twenty questions. Why couldn't she just come out and say what she wanted rather than making me guess?
"Nothing."
I nodded and turned away, but kept watching her from the side. Sighing, she pressed her lips together, her fists clenched. She was definitely irritated about something, but…oh her.
"Her name's Shane."
"As in 'come back'?"
"Yup."
Her smile became forced as a bit of jealousy flickered in her gaze. "Well, great. That's great. Really, it's great."
"So I've heard."
"Well, it is."
"Are you upset about something?"
She shook her head. "No."
"I mean, me and Shane—"
"What about you and Shane?" she said, her tone clipped.
I shrugged. "I don't know, it didn't exactly bring a smile to your face."
"Well, I'm still uh adjusting to being back."
"Okay," I said, my gaze again resting on the ground. It was a total lie and she knew it.
"I could care less about you and Shane."
"Good."
"It just surprised me, that's all."
"Why?"
"Because."
I turned back towards her, a hand on my hip. She had my interest now. "Because why?"
"Because of what happened at my sister's wedding."
I nodded. "Ah."
"Yeah, so me coming back here and just seeing you with Shane just kind of threw me for a sec."
Last time I checked, she and I weren't dating, so where did she get the gall to suddenly critize me about which girls I dated? She didn't own me.
"I'm sorry, did I hear from you at all this summer?" She started to open her mouth, suddenly closed it, looking a little deflated. "Did I just happen to miss the thousands of phone calls you made to me, or did the postman happen to lose all those letters you wrote to me?
"You kiss me, you tell me not to say anything. . .very flattering, by the way. You go off to on your trip. . . then nothing. Then you come back here all put out because I didn't just sit around and wait for you like Dean would've done? And yeah, what about Dean? Are you still with him? 'Cause last time I checked, you were, and I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Plus, the two of you walking around the other day like some damn Andy Hardy movie. Seemed to me like you're still pretty together. I half expected you to break into a barn and put on a show."
"When did you see me with Dean?" she asked, her brow wrinkling.
"While you were walking around the park, waiting for your mom."
"Oh, I'm surprised you could see anything with Shane's head plastered to your face."
"You didn't answer me."
"About what?"
"Did you call me at all?"
"No."
"Did you send me a letter?"
"No."
"Postcard?"
"No."
"Smoke signal?"
"Stop."
"A nice fruit basket?"
"Enough!"
"Are you still with Dean?" She froze, her expression sad, almost regretful. I sighed. I didn't have time to play games. "Come on, Rory, yes or no—are you still with Dean?"
"Yes, I'm still with Dean, yes!"
My throat tightened as I forced myself to swallow. "Glad to hear it."
"Glad to tell you."
"See you around," I called over my shoulder as I made my way towards the exit.
"Whatever." She picked up her discarded shopping basket, hurrying towards the check out line.
"Right back at ya."
I groaned and clenched my fist, suppressing the urge to hit something. I couldn't do anything right. Whenever I was around her, it didn't matter what, our conversations always turned into verbal spats. What was it about this girl that made it so she could control my emotions? Why did I care so much?
Author's Note: Please review!