(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1.)

21. So Good To See You
Characters/Pairings: Rory/Jess
'Verse/Timeline: canon AU - post-series (no revival)
Date: December 2008

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Rory as she rounded the corner and nearly bowled over a person crossing from the diner to the kerb. "Jess," she gasped on realising it was him.

"Rory, hey," he greeted her, hefting the box in his arms a little higher.

"You're here."

"Only just. Luke had some stuff for me, but I was just leaving."

"Oh, okay." Rory nodded, feeling awful.

They hadn't seen each other since that horrible day at Truncheon. Actually, it had been a pretty great day, until the part where Jess kissed her and she pulled away, telling him she was still seeing Logan. God, she had been so awful that day, using the poor guy like that. She could hardly blame him for wanting to escape her company as quickly as possible, which he clearly did, as he moved to put his box into the car.

"I wrote to you," she said then, just blurted it out because somehow, she felt she at least deserved to have her apology acknowledged. "You did get my letter?"

"I did." Jess nodded as he removed his head from the car and faced her again, almost actually smiling. "You know, I always knew you were a great writer, but there's nothing like a twelve-page letter to really hammer the point home."

"I had a lot of apologising to do," she admitted, squirming yet.

"Maybe," Jess agreed. "Probably not as much as I had."

Rory wasn't prepared to comment on that, except to say, "You never wrote back."

"I didn't have a return address," he told her, sticking her to the spot with that same intense gaze that always turned her to mush in years gone by. "From what Luke was saying, you've been moving around a lot."

"That's true." Rory nodded. "Last Christmas, I didn't even make it home."

"I know." Jess told her, smirking some. "That's why when Luke invited me, I actually came. Not that I didn't wanna see you, it was just..."

"Awkward."

"Yeah, something like that."

He wasn't wrong, it felt super-awkward even now. Rory wished that it didn't. She so wanted her and Jess to be friends again, at the very least. It caught her off-guard how much she meant that, how crazily attracted she still was to the guy after all this time.

"You know, for what it's worth, if I had a return address, I would've told you it was fine," he said then, shaking his head. "I mean, it wasn't exactly fine at the time. What you did was not flattering and frankly, it hurt, but I guess I messed up enough times before, it probably just makes us even."

"It's not supposed to be like that, Jess," Rory told him sadly. "I mean, I appreciate the forgiveness, I really do, but I don't want what's between us to be 'an eye for an eye.'"

"Wrong half of the Bible for this time of year, right?" he said, smirking harder until she finally cracked and laughed herself. "C'mon, Rory, let's just put the past where it belongs and move on, okay? Life's too short."

"It probably is," she agreed, nodding her head. "So, do you really have to leave in such a hurry? You said you spent last Christmas here, couldn't you do that again?"

Jess stared at her for a long beat, seeming to weigh up his options, and then he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess that wouldn't completely suck," he admitted, wide smile proving he was much happier to stay than he was suggesting.

Rory couldn't have been more pleased.