Chapter 2

"Well," he said finally, after a good twenty seconds of silence, "If it isn't the inimitable Rory Gilmore." He walked toward her. She was still silent, her eyes never having left his. "Wanna help me with this?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry," she mumbled as she bent down next to him, gathering some of the books in her arms. She quickly stood up, setting the pile neatly where it had been on the table. Jess set down the rest next to them.

"Don't worry about it. Matt does it at least twice a day. Shitty place for a table, but we're kinda cramped for space," Jess smiled reassuringly, resting his hands back across the table as he faced her.

He hadn't seen Rory since his open house, and it wasn't like they'd stayed in touch. For a while he thought they might, him having slipped his business card into her copy of the Subsect. He thought so more when he found out about her breakup with Logan and her rejection of his proposal. But he never heard from her. Luke, once in a while, would mention the important things, like "She's still covering the Obama campaign" and "Now that he's won, her term was extended again to cover the first year of his presidency. She's based in New York but traveling weekly." Surprisingly she didn't come to Philadelphia on her first trip through, at least, according to Luke, whose "She's not comin' here" didn't really shed a lot of light on the situation.

So this was the first time Jess had seen her since that day at Truncheon when they kissed and he was calm until she left and he broke the wall (it'd been a while since he'd thrown a punch, so he actually ended up in the hospital, having broken a knuckle). He knew what had happened in her life and she knew nothing about his, as far as he knew, which he liked. He always felt more comfortable having the upper hand during their surprise meetings. But he had no idea what the hell she would possibly be doing at Truncheon Books on this random Tuesday.

"Yeah, I remember," she smiled shyly, meeting his eyes, "But from what I hear Matt's kind of a klutz."

He cocked his eyebrows in supplies. "You've heard about my friends?" he inquired, "Wow, Gilmore, your investigative skills must have improved since you lost your bracelet."

She rolled her eyes, blushing. "Luke mentioned to Mom, and Mom…"

"I'm surprised your mother still remembers my name. Does she still cringe when she says it?"

"I don't know, we've been communicating by phone mostly for the last few months. I haven't been home much," Rory looked down, "But I'm probably boring you."

"Never. Except for when you recommend Objectivist literature," Jess smirked. Rory looked up and grinned at him. That smile. That was the first real smile Jess had seen since she arrived, and it was every bit the mind-blowing phenomenon he remembered it to be.

When Jess first met Rory, he thought it was her eyes that mesmerized him. And they did. But the closer they became the more he realized that her smile, the really artless one that was mostly reserved for him, was the thing that made it the hardest for him to breathe and the hardest for him to ignore the impulse to grab her and pull her close up against the nearest wall and not care who sees. That smile, that sure, Luke or Lane or Paris or Lorelai could sometimes conjure, but was usually reserved for him. The first time he'd seen it was when she was flipping through Howl. The most important time was when he handed her the Subsect. And every time she did it, it didn't matter where we were or who was around, he couldn't help reacting the way he did the first time.

Her eyes were there for everyone in the world, something he used to hate. He couldn't stand that everyone could see them, just look into her soul like that, but somehow he felt her smiles were more exclusive. Of course he'd grown out of his teenage possessiveness…mostly.

He snapped out of his reverie. "Why don't we grab a bite to eat? Matt can put away the rest of these and since I don't see a thermos in your hand, I'm guessing you're in need of libations."

"That sounds good," Rory nodded, looking relieved. It wasn't like her to be so clammed up. Jess pushed the thought aside and shot her a quick half-smile.

"Let me just go let Matt and Chris know that I'll be back a little later. And don't you dare start looking while I'm gone or we'll be here for hours."

She smiled that same damn smile and he cast his eyes towards the floor, quickly avoiding his visceral reaction to it. He turned around and walked towards Matt and Chris, who were now lounging not so inconspicuously against the wall staring at Rory.

"Guys, don't start," Jess said immediately, putting up his palm, "And stop staring. Now. You're worse than Penny Lane."

"Jess, you can't just…" Chris started.

"I'm not just anything. In fact, I'm not anything at all. I'm just going to go out for a couple minutes. I'll be back in time for tonight's reading at the latest, and I'd appreciate it if as long as she's around you'd remain civil and try to block out the things you've learned from questionable sources."

"But you're the only one who's told us about her!" Matt exclaimed, "And from the things you've said…"

"In all fairness, Jess drunk isn't really a reliable source as much as a resurrection of Bukowski, with slightly less whores involved."

"And on that note," Jess sighed and turned around, walking back towards Rory, who was trying to pretend like she wasn't watching them. He could tell from the way the corners of her lips were slightly turned up as they always were when she eavesdropped, though her eyes were securely fixed on the piece of art on the adjacent wall.

"I have no idea what that is," Rory mumbled, following Jess towards the door.

"Don't worry about it," Jess smirked, "I don't think Ani DeFranco herself could figure that one out, even with all her inside knowledge."

"Enough said."