A/N- Hope you enjoy this chapter. The action is slowing down a bit for now, though I'm sure you can all tell it'll be picking up again soon...
I hope my normal readers did catch the last few chapters. I've heard lovely things from some of you (and thank you so much for that!) but since those were big deal chapters, I'm really just hoping everyone is up to speed. Which is kind of ironic and funny, since it seems usually to be the other way around with fanfiction writers and readers. But I am so glad and grateful for all of the wonderful responses I have received! I hope you enjoy this, please continue reading, reviewing, and recommend to other people if you're so inclined. I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters or concepts and ASP is even more of a genius than I originally believed.
Why? Let me just share this anecdote with you. Was re-watching the Dance Marathon episode today and Rory references Howard Roark in it. Seriously. I had no idea. I'm still betting somewhere in there there's a Hemingway reference I'm missing but I just nearly had a heart attack when I noticed it. She ships Lit. We know it, all of us do. ASP is our queen. And now I'm done nerding out so please enjoy the writing.
Chapter 54
The next weekend business had started to lull, so Jess decided to take the time to catch up with the authors whom he'd been too swamped to handle. Rory, being unnecessary to Truncheon for the moment, made an impulsive decision.
"I'm going to Star's Hollow," she announced as Jess entered the apartment on Friday morning, bearing coffee. She had a packed bag on her bed. "Lane's band is playing a gig in Hartford tonight, her mom's watching the boys and she wants me to come see. So I'm gonna go."
"Cool," Jess nodded, trying not to look too disappointed. Rory smirked.
"And…I may or may not have decided to come back by tomorrow night," she admitted, "For some reason I just haven't been sleeping well on my bed there."
"Must be the mattress," Jess shrugged, his eyes shining. Rory nodded in assent.
"Must be. So I'm staying at Mom's, I have my phone, and I stole your copy of The Holy Barbarians."
"What?" Jess demanded, turning to her, "You can't…"
"Possibly think you'd mind sharing? Of course not, I know how selfless you are," she grinned, picking up her backpack.
"You have your own copy," he glared, though he was unable to keep the smile out of his eyes.
"Yes, but my copy is plain and blank and boring because you haven't gotten around to decorating it yet," she pleaded, her eyes widening. Jess sighed deeply.
"You know the eyes aren't fair," he said, before handing her a to-go cup, "Go. Before I change my mind."
"I'll call you tonight," she promised, leaning in and hugging him before leaving.
They hadn't kissed since the first time it happened. Rory wondered as she walked towards the car if Jess' logic in avoiding it was the same as hers. Rory knew instinctually that the next time they kissed she would be absolutely unable to stop there. At this point, with the level of intimacy that a single touch, hell, a single look could convey between them, there was no stopping it once it began. And she wasn't sure it was the right time yet. She suspected that's why Jess hadn't made any advances either, though you couldn't really say things were the same as before. The glances were longer, and neither ever shied away from them. They held each other's gaze without nerves or giddiness, and didn't let go until something required it. When they separated, they embraced, so closely that they could feel each other's hearts beating against the other. And not one ounce of it felt awkward in the slightest. It all felt natural, and right. So did the way that they started talking once the lights were off in the room, not really about anything as much as everything, and let it go on until one of them fell asleep.
Matt and Chris had of course noticed the change in demeanor, but Chris had obviously made it clear to Matt to stay out of it. Rory had made an impressive amount of progress with Chris. At this point he seemed more like he was trying to stop himself from really getting close to her, trying to find reasons to avoid accepting her fully and without conditions. But she was kind and considerate and funny and always did more than her fair share of work, and Chris was having a damn hard time holding onto his grudge, no matter how well-founded it may have been. Which is why, when he realized that something had altered between Rory and Jess, and saw how much happier they had become, he made certain to stop Matt screwing it up before he had the chance to start. So for now, all was quiet and the two were more than welcome to bask in the anticipatory uncertainty of the moment.
To be honest, though, Rory wasn't really going to Star's Hollow for Lane's band. Or to see her mom. There was something else she needed to do, to understand, to make sense of, and she couldn't do it with Jess around. Rory sighed involuntarily. She couldn't stand having to leave him, even for the night. She knew she'd barely get any sleep, and that he wouldn't get much either. Sometimes you had to make a sacrifice.
As soon as Rory drove away, Jess sighed and went to his dresser to find some work clothes before meeting with Peter. He smirked when he realized that the shirt he'd been meaning to wear was missing. It was funny, he thought. It had never occurred to him how happy the absence of his own shirt from his dresser could make him. But sure enough, the emptier the drawers became the more impossible it was for Jess to stop grinning. Finding alternate attire, Jess started to get dressed, already feeling weighed down by the emptiness of the room around him.
He had been resisting the incredibly powerful compulsion to kiss Rory again since their last encounter. But he knew that the second he touched her he wouldn't be able to let go of her, that he would need her so desperately, and that she would cling to him in the same way. He would take her. And it wasn't time yet, no matter how much every single muscle and bone and fiber of his body begged to differ. There were things he had to do first.
As irritated as he was to be alone for the night, it actually worked out in a convenient way for him. He had to attend to a couple things that he couldn't do with Rory present. And the sooner he took care of those matters, the closer they'd be to what was coming. That is, if he survived. Such a mission could open him up to great mortal peril, but sometimes there were risks you just had to take.
Rory mused along the same lines of thought as she approached the little hamlet that had raised her. She wasn't looking forward to what she was about to do. She was seeking answers she wasn't sure she wanted, in fact, that she was pretty sure she didn't want. She was testing things that were fragile, hanging by single threads, and she knew how devastating it would be if they were broken. But if she ever wanted to have a shot in hell of making things work out this time, in a way that was good, honest, right, she had to make this choice.
That night, Jess picked up the phone and began dialing. At that same moment Rory knocked on a glass door. As they waited for their respective answers, it occurred to them that what happened next really didn't matter in the long term. It was a step that could work out in their favor, or against them. But either way, there was a them to work against.
