Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rory Gilmore had to agree with her mom, the place was huge.
She can't help but compare this house to the place that she and Logan had. After she graduated from Yale and Logan came back from London, they decided to live together again. Their place in New Haven is like a prototype of where they used to live. But less lived in because Logan is often flying all over the map and Rory's job tend to take her to the nation's capital more often than she cared for.
She smiled at the thought of Jess scoffing at the suit of armor in their place. This house was filled with paintings and photographs, lining the hallways and decorating the rooms. It was both airy and homey, Rory can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, she can't help but remember that their place tend to have an empty feel to it.
When she reached downstairs she realized that she had no idea how to find the library. She saw the living room and the foyer where they all gathered before, that was to the left of the house. To the right she could see the dining room and an arc that had to lead to the kitchen. She walked further down and saw a hallway with a single door at the end. She figured she might as well look if that was the library.
She quietly opened the door and found out that she was right. Behind the door was massive room with shelves lined up from top to bottom. All filled with books. Rory was in awe. She could only imagine the collection that Jess had. She shut the door as quietly as she opened it and openly stared at the layout.
There were books from the floor to the ceiling, several couches strategically placed around each corner. There was even a ladder leaning across from the bookshelves. She turned to the right and can't help but smirk at the card catalog. Trust Jess to revert to the use of the old-fashioned system, nowadays libraries use computers to look up books. She turned yet again and noticed the thick curtains hanging at the back of the room. It looked like the curtains were being used to partition a section of the library.
Behind her the door opened and closed. When she turned to look she saw none other than Jess Mariano.
"Hey." Was the only thing Rory could think of saying.
"Hey. I see you found the library." Jess smiled at her greeting.
"Yes. I have a nose for these things. It's gorgeous, by the way. You even have a card catalog." She replied.
"Actually this is only for Veronica's sake. I know where every book is."
"Oh."
Jess looked at her and then looked away in favor of gazing at his library.
"I actually copied the design from Addy's library." He looked at Rory conversationally.
"Speaking of Addy, I never heard of her before today." Jess shot her a puzzled look at her response.
"I guess we never really discussed my life pre-Stars Hollow."
"We did." She insisted.
"That was a lifetime ago Rory."
"So it would it seem. I used to think we were friends, Jess. But after five years with no news, I guess I was wrong." Rory can't help the hurt from creeping in her voice.
Before Jess could reply a noise behind the curtain interrupted them.
The curtains parted and revealed Adriana Townsend; she smiled uncertainly at Jess and Rory, and then held up a book for Jess' inspection.
"Guess what I found behind the curtain?"
Jess smiled awkwardly at his friend and to Rory's surprise, he blush a deep shade of red.
"Yup, I have found it. My first edition copy of The Old Man and the Sea, imagine my surprise since I distinctly remember asking you if you had it and you denying having it. And guess what, I saw an entire shelf of my books, all of which were missing for a while now"
"Now Addy, I know what this looks like. But you have to understand if you hadn't arrived early I would have had time to hide them all from you."
Rory was confused at the exchange to say the least. But she kept mum as the two continued their conversation.
"Hmmm…look Mariano; I know I can't kill you since it's almost your wedding and all, but if the books are not in my house by sundown tomorrow I just might."
"You do know that you brought it upon yourself don't you? Those books won't be living this library and you know it." Jess retorted. Addy ended up grumbling and putting the book down on the nearest table.
"She has three copies of each book." Jess told Rory, as though it explained everything.
"I'm going home. It's six, so I have an hour before your blasted dinner. But I might be late. So no recriminations since you have been warned." Addy stated as she started for the door.
"I'll walk you there," Jess replied to Addy, "Feel free to browse Rory. I'm not like other uptight library owners, I actually let people into my library." He said to Rory.
Addy made a face at him and he responded in kind.
"Speaking of my house, do you know that there is no wall or anything separating our properties?" Addy asked Jess as they headed out the door, Rory didn't get to hear Jess' response as the door closed behind them.
She sighed in exasperation once she was alone. She thought she was going to be able to have a real conversation with Jess when he entered the library. But the girl that he thought of as his best friend got in the way of things.
As she walked around the library she can't help but feel helpless. She doesn't even know Jess anymore. Why exactly did she want to be there in the first place? She sighed again and picked up a random book from a shelf. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, she remembered reading the book before, still she sat on one of the couches and started reading.
Rory became so engrossed in the book that she didn't hear the door open, until the person spoke up.
"Hi Rory, I'm sorry to interrupt, but is Jess here? I can't seem to find him anywhere." It was Veronica Mars, Jess' intended.
Rory looked up and stared at her blankly. Veronica had to repeat her question. Rory blinked and Veronica finally got her attention.
"He walked Addy home." Was her answer to Veronica's question.
"Oh." Veronica looked like she was contemplating on leaving Rory alone.
"The house is beautiful by the way." Rory gave her a small smile.
"Thank you. It took a lot of work. Between school and the engagement and the decorating, I couldn't imagine everything turning out as beautifully as it did." Veronica gave Rory a tentative smile.
An awkward silence settled over them, each smiling at each other uncomfortably. Then it seemed that Veronica decided to take control of the situation.
"Did you explore the entire room yet?" Rory shook her head. Veronica gestured towards the curtain.
"That is the best part of this library. Come on, I'll show you."
Rory stood up and followed Veronica who was already walking towards the curtains. She parted the cloth and behind it was another room. There was a bed on the corner and a laptop and a typewriter on the table beside the bed. At the foot of the bed was shelf, full of books, which Rory assumed to be Addy's. There was also a small fridge across the room. To Rory, the room screamed Jess.
"This is where Jess likes to write." Veronica explained, not knowing that Rory already arrived at that conclusion.
"So he's still writing? I thought he was running publishing houses that Addy handed over to him." Rory was sincerely curious.
"Well, he used to when he first got the companies. But nowadays he just attends the meetings and gets the reports. He likes the job mainly for the books. He loves reading manuscripts of up and coming writers." The quiet settled over them again.
'Look, I think it's important that we have this out in the open. I know that you and Jess used to date. And I really hoped that there wouldn't be any awkwardness between us. But apparently I can be wrong sometimes, just don't tell Jess that. Anyway, Jess seems glad that you are here, and if he's okay then so am I. I just hope that you're okay too." Veronica started.
"I'm okay." Rory responded quietly.
"I knew it would be weird. But I'm sure we can get over it. After all you'll be family soon enough, right?" Veronica asked brightly.
"Right."
AN: Hope you enjoyed reading.
