A/N- Glad so many people enjoyed last night's...well, explosion, judging by all the caps in the reviews. Ha. Anyway, I'm happy that people liked it and I hope you all feel the same way about this continuation. For people wondering if I've made a decision on the M controversy, I'm up in the air, but will not be posting a poll. Sorry! I'll let you know when I've decided though and I really do appreciate the input. In other news, as the Rory mystery/confusion thing starts to draw to a resolution, I have planted another one. At some recent point, either today or prior. So let me know when you start to spot it and what you think! Please read, review, and recommend if you feel so inclined. I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters or concepts, though I would love to hire Lorelai Gilmore to just live my life for me. She'd do it so much better, honestly.
Chapter 53
It was breathless. There was no hesitation in extending the moment that Jess had so impulsively begun. Rory immediately brought her hand to his cheek and pressed herself to him, feeling a need that had been waiting, aching for some long, unknown amount of time slowly starting to be filled. Jess' hands found the familiar place on her hips that seemed to be made for them to rest, and they just stood, together. If anyone had seen they would have believed the two had no intention of ever parting.
This was what Rory had always loved the most about Jess. The fact that everything was the most imperfect and flawless at the same time. There were no fireworks or gazebos or even stars in the sky, but under the ceiling that they shared every night, she felt more at home than she ever had. And although she'd suspected it, the second his lips touched hers, it was confirmed. She knew everything that she thought was the case was true.
Rory wasn't the only one having realizations. Immediately when Rory's eyes closed, Jess had been able to see what was so new in them. Clarity was funny that way. The seconds she, unquestioning, gave herself over to the moment, he understood that she was ready for it too, and that she was letting it happen. Breathing into the moments, not chasing them down. The realization made him pull her even closer, compelled him to show her, somehow, that he got it, that he would always get it, and that he would make a world for her where she was always safe to let go.
After a brief eternity, Rory reluctantly pulled away. Jess looked at her, confused, and she gestured to the floor.
"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be running the business down there," she sighed, "As unfortunate as it feels right now, your screaming didn't chase every customer away."
"I've never been so unhappy to have business," Jess smirked, and Rory grinned back unabashedly, "Or to have such a motivated employee."
"One of the pitfalls of the Gilmore women," she replied, starting toward the stairs, her eyes still glued to his own.
"I should probably start a list," he retorted, opening the door for her and softly brushing her hand with his own before they both quickly returned to the store.
An hour later, the smiles had faded from their lips but were still clear as day in their eyes. Luckily Chris and Matt were too swamped with the chaos of this rush to pay any attention or Jess would probably be in an office interrogation. Every time Rory came by to get an inventory form or input something into the computer system, no matter who Jess was talking to or what he was doing, his eyes would follow hers and she could feel the familiar flush creeping into her cheeks. It was different now than it was when she was a teenager. Back then it was a slightly abashed, curious, fearful, hesitant phenomenon, but now it was a giddy exuberance reminding her of the moment they'd shared, and rooted in her consequent thoughts of where it could go. Her mind hadn't dared to go the places then that they did now, without her even trying. When she had met Jess, that part of her was so repressed that she didn't even realize it existed, and now she had become so assured with him that the thoughts came to her naturally and she hadn't really tried to stop them. Didn't plan to. But to stare at Jess as they ran through her head…definitely blush-worthy.
Jess knew all of this. One of the most transcendent things about his relationship with Rory had always been the fact that the second he touched her it was like he could read her mind. Some sense of his just turned on, and nearly every glance, word, movement was clear in its intention and its meaning. So the second he saw that flush he knew it wasn't the same shy one he'd known when they were younger, and the gazes changed accordingly. Less exploratory, more longing. He felt in his bones a need so deep that he didn't think could be incited without actually touching another person. But one look from Rory and every muscle and sinew in his body became electrified with desire.
Of course, it wasn't just sex. It was sex, yes, and that had always been there, no matter how they acted or what choices they made or how they chose to delicately play things off when they were respectively too innocent and too damaged to really deal with something that powerful. But in addition to that, the desire was something instinctual, possessive, a sense of claiming. He would almost feel ashamed of how sexist it seemed if he didn't see the exact same thing reflected in the way she looked at him. It was an unspoken understanding. They belonged to one another, always had, always would. Exclusively. There was no argument or agreement to be had or made. Technicalities would be worked out in time, as appropriate, but until then they would rest in the knowledge that they both knew exactly what this was. This, combined with the clear physical compulsion that was charging through the veins of both Rory and Jess, made them realize that their legendary chemistry hadn't even reached anything near its full potential.
As Rory returned to the shelves to put a few books away, her mind wandered back to the Bracebridge Dinner. It didn't matter who she was with. That experience, like most things that really moved her at that age, was about Jess. It wasn't the fact that he hopped into her sleigh or destroyed the snowman or any of the other crazy, random, romantic or exciting things he did that had stuck with her the most. It was the way he looked at her when they were about to leave. He knew everything she was feeling, and his eyes were telling her just to wait and see the fire when it happened. And it would happen. It wasn't a question, and he knew that. She confirmed it to him that same day, in that same conversation that they had wordlessly in an empty room full of people. That moment had been so defining for her, for them. She wasn't worried about what had happened upstairs, per se. Not about what would happen or what it meant. But it occurred to her that maybe this was the same way, where they both knew the truth of the moment but would have to wait until it found them again, naturally, when it was time.
