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"He's avoiding me." Rory Gilmore declared morosely.
"No he isn't" Lorelai shouted from the closet.
They've been in Neptune, CA for the last three days. During that time Rory truly felt that Jess was avoiding her.
Lorelai called out to Rory to help her pick out an outfit. Rory rolled her eyes and proceeded into the walk-in closet.
"I really think he's been avoiding me." She insisted.
"Listen sweets, I really need to find something to wear, otherwise Luke will come barging in here and drag me in whatever I am wearing." Lorelai pleaded, trying to get her daughter to focus on the task at hand.
Rory picked out random clothing from the hangers before her and handed them to her mother.
"Luke loves you in this blue dress, the shawl will keep you warm in case it gets cold into the night and wear the earrings he gave youwhen you started dating and the necklace too. Wear you black stilettos and you're good to go."
"The student has surpassed the teacher." Lorelai proudly declared.
Rory flashed a real smile at her mother and then went back into the room to wait for Lorelai's grand entrance.
"So do you know where you're going tonight?" Rory was curious.
Tonight, according to the itinerary was couples' night, her mom and Luke, Mac and Dick, both insisted that they call them by their nicknames, Keith and Wallace's mom and probably Jess and Veronica were going out. The host and hostess arranged places for all couples to go to for the night. Of course, they neglected to arrange activities for those who aren't part of a couple or whose other half is MIA, since they did not exactly expect Rory to be there, Addy was in and out of town, Logan was constantly disappearing and Wallace was hanging out with his brother since his mom was going out with Veronica's dad.
"We got the dinner at LA. We're supposed to head to the airport; Jess said there's going to be a helicopter waiting to fly us out there." Lorelai answered as she exited the closet.
"Man, I think Jess is going all out to impress you." Rory commented.
"I know, private planes and helicopters, however will I go back to the dull life in Stars Hollow?" Lorelai mockingly asked in a Southern belle accent.
Rory smiled at her mom. It may be ten years to late, but she knows her mom actually likes the man that Jess has become.
"I don't think he's avoiding you babe. The days before a wedding are very hectic. He probably has a lot in his mind. Besides you guys talked last Monday when we met him in LA for lunch." Lorelai referred back to what was bothering her daughter since she was done worrying about what to wear.
"Yes we did, but he kept it at minimum." Rory complained.
"You can't really blame him hon, he was trying to entertain four women, one of which is his fiancée."
"I guess I can't." Rory sighed.
Her mom was right, Jess was so different now. He actually handled the said lunch pretty well, engaging all ladies in conversation, all while shooting looks at Veronica, that did not go unnoticed by Rory.
Rory got to talk to him a little bit when the other three went to the restroom and she declined to join them. He was relaxed and they talked about books as per usual. But when the three got back he returned to being a gracious gentleman.
Before they could go any further into the conversation Luke came barging in, just as Lorelai predicted.
"Lorelai-" Luke yelled.
"All done Luke Danes!" Lorelai cut him off. Rory smiled at the way Luke stopped in his tracks when he saw his wife.
"Luke weren't you in a hurry just a second ago?" his wife asked him teasingly.
Luke offered his arm to Lorelai and smiled briefly at Rory and started for the door. Rory stood up from the bed and walked out with them. She bade them goodbye and told them to have a good time, her mom shot her a look that said there won't be any doubt that they will.
With nothing else to distract her Rory wondered what she was supposed to do since everyone was gone. She decided to go to the library and look for something to read. She quietly entered the room and when she looked up she saw Jess sitting comfortably in one of the chairs and completely absorbed in whatever he was reading.
"Hey." she managed to utter.
Jess looked up and smiled at the sight of her, "Hey."
"Work related?" she asked while looking at the papers he was shuffling.
"Sort of, I like to keep track of the up and coming authors."
"Any good?"
"It needs more editing. The guy likes to use multi-syllabic words for simple things. But overall I think we're going to be publishing this."
"Not the next 'Great American Novel'? Rory asked smilingly.
"Hardly." Jess replied archly and returned her smile.
"So where's Veronica?" Rory looked at the direction of the curtain, as if waiting for her to come out from there.
"Sulking." Jess grinned almost to himself.
"Huh?"
"She's probably in the dark room, developing the pictures she took for the last few days."
"Why would she be sulking?" Rory was now thoroughly confused.
"Oh, she just got her grades from school." Jess answered vaguely.
"She didn't do so well?" she asked sympathetically.
"Oh, she did great. 4.0 all the way." This confused her even more.
"Why would she be sulking then?"
"I didn't buy her a pony." At Rory's facial expression he tried to explain. "It's a long running joke that Veronica will always want a pony. Hand her a gift, of any size and she'll guess it's a pony. I gave her a congratulatory gift for doing so well and she was, as per usual, disappointed that it wasn't a pony."
"Why don't you just give her a pony then?" to Rory it doesn't seem that big a deal, Jess could obviously afford it.
"First of all, she's not nine. And for another she doesn't know how to ride. It would be a poor investment. But really it's mostly for show when she does the guessing game. She just does it for a laugh." Jess explained easily.
"You have a dark room?" Rory switched subjects that Jess had a puzzled look on his face.
"Yeah, an outdoor dark room, she loves photography. All of the photographs on the walls are her work." Jess stated somewhat proudly.
"She's very talented." Rory genuinely liked Veronica, as the days passed she can't help but feel somewhat in awe of her. From what she heard Veronica was an amazing junior PI in high school and an honor student. In college she upped her sleuthing skills by going after the people who would normally be untouchable.
Now she is completing her masters that would come in handy with her plans of becoming a crime scene investigator, Logan fondly called her 'little Miss Grissom' and Rory can't help but feel a little insecure at the blonde's achievements.
She was four years older, she had a job she loved, an amazing boyfriend by society's standard, but when compared to Veronica she felt like a loser.
"Yes, she is." Jess agreed, a fond smile gracing his face.
"So are you two going out tonight?" Jess looked surprised at her question.
"No, actually we'll be staying in."
"But according to the itinerary it's Couples' Night." Rory commented pointedly.
"Oh, that. As some of our guests are without dates for tonight, Veronica and I decided to stay in, that is what excellent hosts do, you know."
Rory giggled at his mock condescension and Jess smiled in turn.
"So we'll be ordering massive amounts of food, Chinese, pizza; other food along those lines, Logan is in charge of the movies, but just in case I got the copy of his first movie, he filmed it during his junior year, he got most of the guys to act in it, and even Veronica had a cameo, it'll be an interesting night." Jess informed her.
"Are you in it?"
"Are you kidding? His powers of persuasion do not work on me, although it sometimes works on certain men." Jess looked thoughtful as he mentioned this.
"So he's not going to spend time with Addy?" she couldn't help but ask.
Jess eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You know about them?"
"Yeah, he kinda told me when we first got here."
"Huh. Probably to ward off any sexual advances." Jess jokingly suggested.
"From me?" Rory faked astonishment.
"Who am I kidding? Logan would never be one to ward off any sexual advances, too vain for that." The two of them looked at each other and burst into laughter. Once they settled down Jess picked up his phone and fiddled with it for a second. Then he put it down and focused on Rory.
"Eavesdropping Miss Mars?" Logan Echolls shot off as he approached the lady in question, who was staring blankly at the door of the library.
"Do you see me with my ear at the door? That's why you didn't get into detective school, you lack the brain capacity to process any form of thought." Veronica retorted.
"That's why? Here I thought it was because I was too good looking to fit in. Everyone was worried that I'd distract everyone else with my stunning looks."
Veronica snorted at Logan's response.
"Seriously, why are you out here and not in there?" Logan can't help himself.
"Jess sent me a text. Rory's in there with him. They're talking."
"You didn't do the air quotes so I'm assuming that they are actually talking in there."
"Yes." She resignedly replied.
"Come on buckaroo, cheer up. I'm ninety percent sure that Jess would choose you over her any day." He nudged her with his shoulder. She flashed him a grateful smile and decided that standing outside the door of where her fiancé and his ex-girlfriend were talking was pointless.
The two started walking towards the kitchen. Veronica went to the fridge and got two sodas and handed one to Logan.
"So tell me, does Addy like her at all? Veronica asked him using her trademark head tilt.
"Now why would you be asking me that?" Logan asked back.
"Come on Logan, you're not fooling anyone, Addy of course is cool as a cucumber, but you've become a softie in your old age. We all know about your nightly ritual of sneaking out since you got here, no matter how early you sneak back in. Have you not noticed the glares from Luke and my dad?"
"I've been meaning to ask about those looks. Are you sure they're not batting for your team? I know I'm drop-dead gorgeous and all but their looks are giving me the creeps."
"Ha ha. You know how they are, they think Addy is the most innocent girl and it seems they want her to remain that way." This time it was Logan's turn to snort.
"Is that your way of saying that she isn't?" she raised her eyebrows at his reaction.
"She really likes Rory; she's wondering what Jess even sees in you, when clearly Rory Gilmore is the love of his life." Logan switched the direction of their discussion.
"She did not say that." Veronica shot back through narrowed eyes.
"Fine! She doesn't like her at all. She thinks that Rory's treatment of Jess in the past does not even warrant the privilege of attending your wedding. But of course she would never say that to just anyone." Logan smirked at Veronica when he finished.
"You're right, it sounds like something she would tell Jess." Veronica declared triumphantly.
"Okay, okay. I just happen to come into the room as she was going through her tirade, with Jess smiling along as she ranted."
"She doesn't just dislike her does she?"
"I believe her words were trouble, with a capital T that rhymes with C that stands for, you know the rest. And I believe she learned that from you. Keith and Luke should be glaring at you for corrupting her."
"Come on, she did not say that. She wouldn't be so crude as to say that." Veronica grinned as she spoke the words.
"I've heard her talk about Rory before, you maybe right about her not being crude and all but something about Rory makes her so angry."
"So does that mean what I think it means?"
"Huh?"
"If Addy doesn't like her then the wedding is sure to happen."
"Are you seriously telling me that you think Jess would cancel the wedding if Addy preferred Rory over you?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"Well…"
"No! Not well…Veronica what the hell? Is this cold feet talking?"
"No- it's just that Addy isn't exactly my BFF."
"Yes, she's not, she's Jess' BFF and yours is Wallace." He declared hotly.
"I know that, but I just feel like she hasn't exactly forgiven me."
"You were there last Sunday, during dinner. She made that speech about you and Jess. And that wasn't the one she's going to make on your wedding day. Addy would never say anything that she didn't mean."
"Look, I know you're just trying to defend her but I just feel a disconnect whenever we talk."
"She's got a lot in her mind, managing a multi-billion company can do that to a person. Besides, Jess isn't a mindless drone that would follow her every command."
"But her opinion matters to him. They've been friends for years. Their relationship is the most constant thing in Jess' life; he wouldn't just discount what she says."
"That may be true but the same could be said about her relationship with Jess. Did you know I've been trying to get her back since senior year? But she only gave me a time of day when I got back in Jess' good graces. And she was never angry at you. She understood that the things that happened in the past had to happen, for us to get where we are today."
"I know all this. But it's Rory. Jess spent five years going back to her. And no matter it ended he always went back to her. Her running away; or saying no over and over again"
"But he stopped when he met you."
"Only because she loved someone else."
"If someone is worth fighting for, you'll always come back. Have you learned nothing from my inspirational messages? Their story has reached its conclusion."
"Is that your way of telling me that I am Jess true love? That I shouldn't doubt his love for me just because he is talking to his ex-girlfriend, which I wholeheartedly agreed for him to do? That maybe I should stop the insane thoughts going thru my head and just follow my instinct which is telling me that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to Jess' feelings for me?"
"Yes. Man I didn't know I was so deep and profound." Logan smiled at the end of her babbling.
"You're right. And your not deep and profound, you're as deep as a puddle and as profound as Kevin and Bean."
"Funny."
"Thanks."
"So did you take one look at Rory and thought that birds braided her hair too?"
AN: Okay, I hope you enjoyed reading. Just in case, Kevin and Bean are hosts for the morning show at KROQ, funny guys, but they don't exactly come off as profound. I guess I can safely say that this fic will not end with a literati, while I always felt that Jess is the one for Rory, the past season has shown me how it's never going to happen. Maybe that's why Rory isn't likable in this fic, I hated the way that Rory picked Huntzberger over Jess. Oh well, as I said, hope you enjoyed reading!
