Jess kept his eyes on his fiancé. He couldn't help it. Her taking in everything around them was magical. He loved her more than anything in this world – that smile, that passion, that spark, – and just looking at her made him feel whole. Her vitality cast a spell on him all those years ago and it was never undone. Jess never wanted it to be undone. When she asked him about the flowers, he shook his head. No, that was something she hadn't revealed; although there was still a lot about the past they didn't know about each other.
"Nope, you didn't. It seemed silly to wonder why. They're pretty flowers. And why were you nervous? I was a nobody from the wrong side of the tracks. Did you think Sleepy Hollow would disown their golden girl?" he asked with a wink. Sometimes he had a hard time staying serious. This moment was one suck time. Jokes were his coping mechanism (a shield) and right then talking about the break up brought that shield up. "I'm sorry, Rory. I don't think I've ever told you. But I'm sorry for leaving and breaking your heart. I'm sorry for making you hate lilies, even for a little while. And I will work my whole life to make up for the hurt and pain I caused you. I will work my whole life so you can stay in this house as long as you want and while I never quite got the close parent thing, I am going to work my hardest so you and Lorelai won't have to be apart. I will protect you and your mother and Luke. You are my Queen. This is your castle. And I will do everything for you because I love you. I don't think I say it enough. I don't know how to say it enough. But I do. I love you. I always have and I always will."
He meant what he said. He would protect her with all his might and use any resource at his disposal. He might not have magic, but he had skills.
"You didn't say sorry but I always knew, even if it took me a while to realize it."
She had been so scared and mad back when he had visited her at Yale. She knew that it was not a good thing that she had not left with him that night, nor he or she would had been ready to run away, it would have been a disaster but she could have been kinder in her refusal.
"You don't have to do any of that Jess. I just want you to be you. I don't want you to feel like if you need to make up for anything," said the brunette smiling softly. "You know, the best thing is that even if we aren't the whole day around saying I love you to each other. It's fine because you kind of say it in other ways which is better than words, because I know you and you say it in the small details, like that time when you came to my job to pick me even if you were having a rough week only because my car wasn't working or when you helped me to relax before the day of the job interview." Logan and Dean had said these words all the time and, yet they have never sounded more strongly than when Jess kissed her while she was half asleep in the morning, passing her the infinitely needed first cup of coffee.
Jess chuckled along with her and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I've never been happier than you were a little oblivious. I worked hard to make it a surprise," he replied, planting a kiss on her back of her hand. "I'm sure you would've come up with something just as goody, if not better."
As she pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her chest, he whimpered. He was thoroughly enjoying holding her hand. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't he lie? He knows you well and he knows me well. Neither of us would've done anything. So maybe Luke is a habitual liar, thus moonlighting as cupid. Even if that isn't the case, it worked. We're together. We should thank him," Jess suggested, continuing the playfulness.
Rory bit her lip trying to suppress a smile at his joke. Of course he had said something like that after the information that she had shared; it suited him. His sarcasm, his wit and comments, had gained nothing good back when they were teens, but it was one of the things about him that she had liked about him.
"Especially when you messed up dinner because that meant I could cook for you and take care of you. Banning you from the kitchen is for our own safety and our safety is top priority," he replied, pulling her close. "And when you freak out a bit and eat the Pop Tarts. You like them more anyway. And the covers? Well, I'd give you the clothes on my back if you needed them. And you're cute when you're grumpy. I love you when you can't find your favorite pens and search the whole house. I love how you make a mess when you're so into your work. I love how you defend your ideas even if no one else agrees with them. I love how you defended me because… no one had ever done that before. But at the time I knew I wasn't right. The town didn't think I was right for you and who was I to stand between the town and you?"
"In the worst case scenario if they had disowned me then we would have just broken up. I mean, what was the appealing to date me besides of being with the town princess?" replied the brunette with a playful tone before giving a more serious response.
"Dean had been my first and only boyfriend so far, and before you I practically had thought that we were going to be always together. That's why I fought what I felt towards you for so long. I was afraid of change. I thought that he was the safest solution," rambled the youngest Gilmore, trying to explain what she used to feel.
"Don't get me wrong, I have zero regrets about that part of my life. Dean had felt safe, but you can't base forever in safe," said Rory before biting her lip and looking to his eyes. "I would rather base safe in hoodies that smell a bit like bakery and takeout food while watching, for the hundredth time, Almost Famous/"
"The one good at coming up with surprises tend to be my mother, I tend to be a follower rather than a planner for that kind of stuff," admitted Rory with a chuckle. Emily had always been talented in that area and Lorelai had her experience in the inn. The only two surprises that Rory had arranged alone were when she managed to invite Emily and Richard to her mother's graduation and the prom based party that she had thrown because she wanted Jess to have that experience.
Rory couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Luke trying to be a cupid. "I will make sure to send him a letter, maybe a nice fruit basket," she said with a smile/ "Sometimes feels like it was yesterday when you showed up in my doorstep with a care package, and yet it has been like eight years? Time surely moves fast. Who would have guessed that we would end up where we are?"
"I have to say that as much as you love to take care of me I need to learn to cook more stuff, otherwise if you ever have to go for a trip I will only be able to eat scrambled eggs. While I daydream about your cooking," joked Rory as she leaned her head on his chest as he pulled her closer. "That's great because then I can confess that I love that you taught me that the ice cream is meant to be eaten in coones."
She said, laughing a little when a random thought appeared in her mind, "Something tells me that if mom was hearing us listing what we love about each other, we would have her making jokes about it forever."
"In all fairness I am still processing everything I think; just I am engaged with you and two hours ago I didn't even knew if you were the marrying type. Sure I had given some thoughts to this, but I didn't even know if you wanted it so I tried to not dwell on details just in case you know, you didn't want to," the brunette rambled a bit nervously, trying to express what she was thinking about without slipping that those thoughts had been in her mind for a while. "I can wear it. I think that you look better in a suit anyway," said the brunette with a smile. "Although if I am going to be completely honest with you? There's an outfit that I love when you wear it and it doesn't have to do anything with formal clothing." Because when he dressed in a style that reminded her to those years so long ago? Then he looked impossibly attractive.
With the tears, he leaned in and kissed them from her cheeks. "I like when things work out perfectly. What about you? What's on your mind?" he asked, pulling her close. "I thought so. While Hemingway has lovely things to say about you, he's not romantic. But, uh… who would be wearing that dress though? I'm not sure I'd look good in a dress. I could go for a kilt, but I'm not Scottish, sorry." He laughed. He couldn't help it. He was so happy. He never imagined how pleased he could be. "Let's try out the loft bed. I have something else I want to show you. I think I might have something worth publishing." Was this the right time to show Rory? He didn't really know.
Her eyes lightened as she moved to sit on the bed, excited to see what he wanted to show her. "If it's half as good as your first book was, you should totally publish it," she said waiting for him.