Not Dreaming
A/N: So…it didn't take two months this time. And it's long, the longest so far, so that should make up for the time it actually did take.
Thanks for the reviews as always. They make me happy. I'd love some way to contact the anonymous reviewers too, but a huge thank you here will have to do for the moment.
And thank you Knowhere for your help and for pointing out all the stupid things I write. :)
This chapter is for Sandi for your constant support and ideas. Thank you!
Chapter 15. Christmas Mornings
"Do we really have to do this?" he asked for what seemed like the hundredth time, his eyes almost begging her to forget the idea. It had been a reoccurring subject over the past days since he arrived, and so far neither of them had given in. "Your grandfather I can actually get along with and I could probably handle your grandmother for a couple hours. But all of their friends? You want me to spend a whole night in that stuck up house with a bunch of high society people who don't have a clue about the real world?"
"I told you, I can't just skip it. They're my grandparents and I promised them we'd come." She looked at him apologetically, hoping he'd understand.
"You mean you promised them you'd come and now I have to come with you," he clarified, rubbing his hand over his forehead.
"Please Jess," she pouted, looking up at him with huge, pleading eyes.
"Aw God, please don't do that!" he exclaimed after looking at her for a second. "You should not be allowed to do that!"
"That means you'll come?" she asked hopefully, her eyes brightening.
"Please don't make me do this," he said, halfheartedly, knowing he had given in a long time ago.
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, toppling them both over and onto the couch in the process. Recognizing the battle as finally lost, he kissed her back, pressing her against him, trying to forget about the now inevitable party later that day.
The evening turned out to be just as horrible as he had predicted. Not only were the people seriously annoying but he definitely didn't feel comfortable in the black suit Rory had made him wear. And the food was inedible to say the least.
He didn't even find any comfort in the fact that Luke, Lorelai and even Rory seemed to share his point of view. If possible that only made it worse. If Rory was happy there was always a chance that her mood would rub off on him. But a gloomy and distressed Rory only made his mood worse.
The only good part of the evening had been the hour spent in Richard's library, the one place in the whole house he actually liked. And he had to admit the old man had pretty good taste in books. But he hadn't been able to hide away there forever and too soon they had been forced to rejoin the rest of the crowd.
After a heroic four hours he had finally had enough. He couldn't stand this any longer. If he didn't leave he wouldn't answer for his actions the next time one of the insufferable people came up to chat. Not that they had tried that often lately. He figured that the scowl that had started forming over his face almost as soon as they returned back from the library had something to do with it. But he didn't plan on doing anything about it and so far Rory hadn't tried either, a fact that surprised him, but one he was very grateful for at the same time.
Just then he saw Emily Gilmore walking in their direction with a determined look on her face and his decision was made. "Come on," he said to Rory, grabbed her hand and started walking in the opposite direction. To his great relief she hardly protested.
"What are you doing?" she asked when he stopped abruptly in the foyer and looked around.
"Looking for our coats," he said, still searching for some place where they might be.
"You're what?" Rory asked, sounding a little surprised. "But we can't just leave," she protested, but not without some relief in her voice.
"Oh yes, we can. We either leave now or I'll do something both you and I will regret afterwards." He stopped in the middle of the foyer. "Now where the hell do they put the coats in this damned house?"
"Shh, keep it down," Rory scolded him, but she couldn't quite keep the giggle out of her voice. "They're probably over there," she said then and tugged on his hand, walking over to the right.
As soon as they were out in the open air and the door was closed behind them he loosened his tie, unbuttoned the first two buttons in his shirt and took a deep breath. It almost felt like he could breathe again for the first time in years.
Then she started laughing. He looked astonished at her for a second, but then started to pull her with him towards his car. "Come on, we don't want them to hear us, do we?" he asked when she stumbled after him, hardly able to walk from too much laughing. "What's so funny anyway?"
"Emily… She will…have a heart attack when she notices…we just left," she managed to get out and almost fell down on the passenger seat once he had opened the door.
He stared at her for a second and then joined her laughing. He closed the door, rounded the car and slumped down in the driver's seat, still laughing. It wasn't until a couple minutes later that they had both calmed down enough to be able to look at each other without starting to laugh again.
"I'd give a lot to see her reaction when she finds out," he said a few minutes later, still smiling.
"You're evil," she accused, but her eyes were gleaming. "Oh, I should call mom and let her know we left," she said, fishing up her cell phone from her purse, smiling brightly at him. "She can give you the details later," she added, a mischievous grin on her face as she started her phone.
"Who's evil now?" he smirked at her and started the car, backing out of the parking space. "Where to?" he asked as he drove through the gate and out on the street.
"Home," she said and waited for her mom to answer, settling back in her seat for the trip back to Stars Hollow.
"Okay," he said, turned left and drove through the streets of Hartford, backtracking his way out to the main road. As they got further away from the mansion he began to relax in his seat, listening to Rory's end of the conversation.
"Hi, mom," she started, still holding back giggles. "Uhm…I thought you might want to know that we're on our way back to Stars Hollow." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled brightly as she listened to Lorelai's answer.
Forty minutes later they stumbled into the diner laughing, or in Jess' case with an amused smirk, from Lorelai's first teaser of Emily's reaction. They grabbed a doughnut each and bounded up the stairs. Once inside the apartment they discarded shoes and coats and fell down side by side on the bed.
"I told you we shouldn't have gone to the party," he said, trying to sound accusing, but her laughing was too distracting for it to have the desired effect.
"Aw, come on. Admit it, there were some good parts," she laughed back, grimacing when her stomach started to cramp from all the laughing she had done in the last hour.
"Never," he stated, making a serious effort to calm himself down. He then turned on his side, propped himself up on an elbow and looked down on her.
"What?" she asked, sobering up completely when she noticed the serious look in his eyes.
"Nothing…just thinking," he said, falling down on the bed again.
"Hey, Jess?" she said, not sure if she was making it a question or not.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning his head a little towards her. "What?" he wondered when she stayed quiet, staring at the ceiling.
"Um…you remember the first time you came to that house?" she asked a little uncertainly, still not looking at him.
"Trying not to," he muttered, mimicking her position on the bed, averting his eyes from her.
"That night was a complete disaster," she said with a grimace.
He closed his eyes, knowing full well where this was going and not liking it at all. "Uh huh," he mumbled, not seeing any way out of it, but not wanting to give in none the less.
"What really happened to your eye then?" she asked, turning to look at him for the first time. "And don't tell me it was a football, 'cause I know it wasn't."
And there it was. "Rory, please don't…" he began, shutting his eyes tighter, but she wouldn't hear his protests.
"No, I want to know," she said, looking at him sternly.
"Can't you just let it go?" he asked, starting to feel more and more uncomfortable. "It's not that important, is it?"
"It is," she insisted. "You promised you'd tell me everything and this is doing that."
"You won't let this go, will you?" he asked, opening his eyes and meeting her gaze.
"No," she said simply, shaking her head.
"Okay then…it was…" he began slowly, but shook his head. "No, first you have to promise not to laugh. And this time I really mean it," he said firmly.
"Okay," she agreed immediately, starting to feel giddy again. "I promise," she said when she saw his stern look and tried to calm down again.
He looked at her for a couple seconds, trying to determine if she was serious or not, but ultimately decided that it didn't matter. It was way too late now anyway. "It was a swan," he mumbled finally, still keeping eye contact.
"I'm sorry?" she said baffled and widened her eyes a little. "Did you just say it was a swan?" she stuttered and then her mouth turned into a big smile. She smacked a hand over her mouth, but she couldn't suppress the giggles that rose in her throat.
He sighed and fell back down on his back on the bed, covering his face with both hands. It would have been too much to ask not to have her laugh at him for this, which was why he didn't want to tell her in the first place. "Yes," he confirmed and groaned when he heard her giggles intensify.
And then she couldn't even pretend to hold back anymore and burst out laughing again, eyes almost tearing. He observed her for a while with an almost remorseful expression on his face, but then he took a deep breath and smiled a little.
He once again propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over her, his mouth close to her ear. "You promised not to laugh," he whispered and moved his other hand to her waist. "Now you know, there has to be some sort of punishment for breaking that promise," he continued, still whispering, and slowly traced his fingers over her lower ribs, just hard enough to get a reaction from her. If she wanted to laugh, he knew how to make her laugh.
Ten minutes later she lay pinned down and panting on the bed, exhausted and with cramping muscles in cheeks and stomach. And he was grinning down on her, having gotten his revenge and more than that. "You done laughing yet?" he asked when her breathing had slowed down a little, adapting a serious expression and raising an eyebrow at her. She only nodded in response, too tired to muster up an answer.
After releasing her hands from his grip above her head he reached out his hand to gently stroke stray strands of hair out of her face. With his fingers lingering on her cheek he bent down and kissed her forehead softly. "Remember before you went home that night? When you told me to keep thinking what I was thinking?" he asked, moving down till his mouth was leveled with hers.
"Yes," she whispered, locking eyes with him and when she noticed their intense expression almost holding her breath in anticipation.
He kissed her softly once and then moved off of her to lay beside her, leaning on one hand, the other gently caressing her cheek. Slowly he leaned in again and captured her mouth in a lingering kiss and she closed her eyes.
She shivered under his touch when his hand traveled down her body, following her collarbone, tracing the path between her breasts and down to her right hip, continuing further to her knee, just above the hem of her dress. There it paused for a few seconds before turning back up, this time taking the path beneath the material of her dress, sending sparkles all through her body.
She hungrily kissed him back, angled her body and reached out to pull the jacket off of him, groaning in protest when his hand stopped its exploration of her body so he could take it off.
He smirked at her impatience and sat up, pulling her with him and off the bed, standing her on the floor in front of him where he sat on the edge of the bed. Smiling up at her he just held her in place for a while, his hands rubbing circles on her hips, before slowly starting to pull the fabric of the dress upwards and finally pulling it over her head, discarding it on the floor.
"Damn, you're beautiful," he breathed out before pulling her close and tracing soft kisses over her stomach while reaching out a hand for the clasp on her bra.
Later that night she was lying comfortably in his arms, tracing patterns on his back with the tips of her fingers. "Was that really what you were thinking then?" she asked against the skin of his neck.
He shivered from her breath and tightened his hold of her. "Well, I might have elaborated some parts of it," he whispered, nibbling at her ear. "But basically…yes."
"Oh," she let out, stopping the exploration of his back and used her hand to hold herself up, looking down at him from above.
"Hey, don't sound so surprised," he said, half jokingly. "I'm a guy, I was eighteen and I had a beautiful girlfriend. What did you expect?" He smirked a little at the light blush that colored her cheeks. "That does not mean I had any plans on making it real any time soon, you know."
"That was not the kind of 'oh' I meant," she said, still blushing. "I was just thinking about that night and my admission to mom that I was thinking about it. She didn't freak out as much as I thought she would."
"Wait, you told your mom?" This time it was his turn to switch positions, almost sitting up in the bed. "You told your mom that you were thinking about sex? With me?"
"Well, yes," she said, the blush on her cheeks deepening, and cast down her eyes.
"Huh!" He fell back down on the bed again and looked up at her. "You were?"
"What? Is that so hard to believe?" she asked.
"No, it's just…" he began, but was cut off.
"You know, I was eighteen too and apart from the whole thing with being a guy I was just like you," she proclaimed, only to realize what she had just said a second later.
"What? You had a beautiful girlfriend too?" he asked, smirking at her. "Did Lorelai know about that?"
She stared at him for a second, before flinging her hands up in the air. "God, you're so…"
"Handsome?" he cut her off, his smirk now more a grin where he was lying on his back on the bed, looking up at her.
She just continued to stare at him for a couple seconds, but then she smiled back. "Yes," she said simply, her eyes sparkling.
He stared up at her for a moment, then reached up a hand, pulled her down to him and kissed her. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her close and he could feel her arms sneak around him as she reciprocated both the kiss and the embrace.
"I love you," she murmured against his mouth before closing her eyes and giving in to the kiss.
In the morning she woke up early, despite the late night, and smiled when she remembered it was Christmas Eve. She lay still for a few moments, just listening to him breathing steadily beside her, trying to determine if he was still asleep or not. When he didn't stir for almost a minute she decided that he was not yet awake and settled back in, trying to go back to sleep.
It took five minutes for her to give up her attempts and decide that he should not get to sleep when she was this awake. After nudging him a couple of times he finally groaned and cracked one eye open, glaring at her sleepily.
"Hi," she beamed, nudging him again, just for good measure.
"Hmm…" he groaned, closing his eye again and buried his head deeper in the pillow, determined to go back to sleep.
"Hey, none of that, Mister!" she exclaimed, nudging him harder. "Christmas is starting and it should not be wasted!"
He reached out an arm and grabbed a hold of her, pulling her down completely on the bed beside him again. "Go back to sleep," he mumbled, turning a little, and buried his head in the crook of her neck.
She smiled and lay still for a few more moments, but it didn't take long before she started feeling restless again. She wiggled under his arm and turned towards him, smiling as she was met by his eyes glaring at her. "Please wake up," she said sweetly.
He closed his eyes tightly and groaned before tugging her closer again and planting a kiss on her collar bone. "The sun isn't even up yet," he mumbled and kissed his way up to her ear.
"But it will be before we've showered and eaten breakfast," she said, trying to stay focused on getting up.
"Fine," he said and got up, heading over to the bathroom.
Still on the bed she stared after him for a second before snapping back to reality. "Hey, you can't just leave!" she exclaimed, suddenly seeing the hitch in her plan.
He stopped right before the bathroom and turned around, smirking at her. "Didn't you want me to get up just now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her and leaned back against the door frame.
"Well, I did, but…" she started, sitting up on the bed, torn between following right away and admiring her view.
"You coming or what?" he asked, cutting her off and smirked at her before opening the door and disappearing into the bathroom. She just smiled and followed.
They came down the stairs later that morning, both with wet hair and smiling. As they emerged from behind the curtain they found themselves face to face with Luke. He stared at them for a second, shifting his gaze from one to the other, and then promptly turned around and walked into the kitchen. They looked at each other and their smiles grew wider.
"Poor Luke," she said as she sat down on a stool at the counter, watching as Jess poured her a cup of coffee.
"Nah, he'll survive," he said, setting the cup down in front of her. "And it's pretty entertaining."
"So, then I guess you wouldn't mind torturing him some more by asking for breakfast?" she asked, smiling hopefully at him. "Can you order me blueberry pancakes?" she added when he shook his head, glancing in the direction of the kitchen.
"Hey, Luke," he said, grinned at her and walked over to the kitchen. "Rory would like some blueberry pancakes for breakfast," he continued, disappearing into the kitchen.
Still grinning to herself she sat at the counter, sipping her coffee and listened to the muffled voices coming from the kitchen. Neither Jess nor Luke had still come out when the bell above the door rang and cold air blew through the diner.
"Coffee!" she heard her mother's voice yell from behind her and turned around, grinning even more.
"You're up early," Rory observed.
"Well, Christmas should not be wasted," Lorelai stated with a smile and sat down next to her daughter, her eyes searching for someone to give her coffee.
"Exactly what I said when I tried to get Jess to get up this morning," Rory said, grinning at the memory.
"Well, you are my daughter," Lorelai said a little absentmindedly, still looking around the diner. "Where are they?" she asked when no one appeared.
"Luke is making breakfast and probably hiding from me, and Jess is back there almost certainly making Luke even more uncomfortable," Rory said, smiling sheepishly at her mother and taking another sip of her coffee.
Looking at her daughter more closely, Lorelai noticed her wet hair and the slight blush on her cheeks and raised an eyebrow at her. "Shower, huh?" she asked, trying to decide whether she should be disturbed or defy Luke's rule not to go behind the counter and go help Jess.
"Uhm…well…" Rory stuttered, her cheeks turning red, and hid her face behind the coffee mug again.
"Just don't give me any details," Lorelai said with a small laugh and smiled brightly when she saw Jess emerge from the kitchen, two plates in hand. "Coffee!" she demanded and grinned deviously at him.
"Okay," he said slowly, surveying her to try to figure out what she was up to and set down the plates before filling up a coffee mug for her. "There you go," he said, setting it down in front of her, feeling a little disturbed at the huge grin still plastered on her face.
"Thank you," she said, grin still in place and grabbed the cup, almost pouting when she had to drop the grin to be able to drink the coffee.
Frowning Jess leaned over the counter in front of Rory, eyeing Lorelai the whole time. "What's up with her?" he asked his girlfriend, whispering.
"Showers," Rory mumbled, gesturing to her hair and trying to stifle the blush that threatened to creep up her cheeks again.
"Ah," he said smirking. "Luke refuses to come out of the kitchen as long as you're at the counter. You think we should do your mother a favor and move to a table?" he asked, still very close to her and his voice barely above a whisper.
"Sounds like a good idea," she said, smiling at him and eyeing her mother out of the corner of her eye. She gave him a quick kiss and grabbed her plate from the counter. "We're going over there," she said to Lorelai, motioning to a table and stood up.
When they walked past the counter after finishing their breakfast Luke had been out of the kitchen for a while, but he still didn't meet Rory's eyes. "We'll be out for a while," Rory told Lorelai on her way, at the same time giving Jess a warning look not to say anything. "We'll be at the Inn to help out later."
Once outside the diner she grabbed his hand and dragged him with her down the street, ignoring his questions as to where they were going. She just turned her head once and smiled sweetly at him and continued walking. Finally he gave up trying to find out what she was up to and just followed, smiling at her enthusiasm that made her almost bounce along the street.
It didn't take long however to realize they were going to the Gilmore house. The town was after all not that big and there were only so many places you could go in every direction. Sure enough, they entered the driveway outside the house and she finally stopped. Then she stood still, surveying the snow covered lawn in front of the house as if looking for something.
"Uhm…what are you looking for?" he asked, confused by her behavior. She had hurried here and now she was just standing there, a frown on her face and looking like she evaluated something in her head.
"I'm planning where to put it," she said absentmindedly, still looking around her.
"Put what where?" he asked, becoming more and more bewildered as he watched her.
Instead of answering she pulled him by the hand, backtracking their steps till they reached the edge of the Gilmore property. There she bent down and collected a big pile of snow. "I knew it! It's just the right temperature," she said excitedly, forming the snow into a ball.
"For what?" he asked, still not quite sure what she was planning. He watched her warily from where she had let him go, trying to see if there were any signs that the snowball could come flying at him.
Straightening out again she looked at him with a smile. "The snowman of course," she beamed at him. "You did say you wanted me to teach you how to make one," she reminded him, grabbing a hold of his hand again and dragged him with her the few steps to her snowball.
"Uhm…" he mumbled, trying to think of something to say, but was cut off by her lips on his before he could form any real words. He relaxed, held her close and kissed her back, closing his eyes. "You remembered that, huh?" he asked when they let go, opening his eyes again and meeting her gaze.
"Of course I did," she smiled at him, giving him one more quick kiss. "Now, come on and help me with this ball."
Two hours later they were standing side by side in front of a sad looking snowman. It wasn't that much that it was badly done, or the fact that it was crooked in some way neither of them really could figure out. It wasn't even the slightly tilted stone mouth or the drooping hat Rory had taken from Jess' Halloween costume. Maybe it was all of the above that together gave the snowman its sorrowful appearance.
Neither of them really cared though. They were both wet from top to toe and stood panting, not so much watching the snowman as trying to catch their breath. The building process had been somewhat sporadic in the last hour, more often than not interrupted by one of them throwing a snowball at the other, inevitably starting another snowball fight.
And it had not been for long moments that both of them had remained standing. Instead they had somehow managed to end up in one or other snow pile, trying not to get too much snow inside their clothes as they both shoveled as large amounts as they could manage at the other.
And there had been a lot of laughing, caused by missed snowballs, successful tackling and a lot of tickling. And the result was that they were now both standing out of breath and staring at a miserable looking snowman.
"He looks kind of sad, don't you think?" she said, eyeing the snowman, when she was finally able to talk again.
"Well, at least the hat suits him," he replied, studying the figure in front of him, trying to decide if he should let it remain standing or not.
"That it does," she agreed, cocking her head to the side and studying their creation a little closer. "What do you think we should call him?" she asked, turning her eyes away from the snowman and eyed him questioningly.
He studied the snowman for a while longer, trying to come up with something it reminded him of. "Eeyore, maybe?" he finally said, frowning at the pathetic figure.
"Eeyore?" she said in disbelief. "That's the first thing you thought of?" She turned to him with raised eyebrows and a smile playing at her lips.
"What?" he asked defensively, digging his hands into the pockets of his coat. It was a long time ago since his jeans had become too wet for that.
"No, nothing," she said, trying not to laugh. "It doesn't look that much like a donkey to me though," she added, starting to giggle.
"They look about as depressed both of them," he said, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye.
She stood giggling and observing the snowman for a few moments before turning back to him again. "I just can't picture you reading about a bunch of stuffed animals," she said, trying to stifle her giggles, but not succeeding very well.
"I was a kid once too, you know," he said, turning back to the snowman. "And I do have a pretty good memory." He glanced at her one more time before he stalked off towards the porch and sat down on the steps, huddling up against the cold that crept on him now that he wasn't moving anymore.
She saw him walk off and stopped giggling immediately, watching him walk the few steps up to the porch before following. "I'm sorry," she said and sat down beside him. "I didn't mean to laugh, I just wasn't prepared for Eeyore. At all."
He didn't say anything for a while, just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned his head against hers. "Could we do something else now, like get out of these clothes and try to get warm?" he asked finally, feeling the cold creep deeper. "I would like to feel my toes again."
"Yes, please," she said, teeth clattering against the cold. She quickly stood up, dragging him with her and took the few steps to the front door.
"Uhm…I don't think I have any clothes here," he said, holding her back from entering the house. "And I rather not wear any of yours," he added quickly, not wanting her to suggest it.
"Come on," she stuttered, pulling on his hand again. "There's a bath tub upstairs that's sounding very compelling at the moment. And we can put the clothes in the dryer. But if you don't come now I might freeze to death, and then it'd be all your fault."
He didn't protest when she walked into the house and soon they were wrapped in a blanket each, loading their clothes in the dryer. When the machine was set she went upstairs to fill the bath tub, while he stayed in the kitchen making coffee as well as he could with shaking hands and trying to hold the blanket together around him.
Later that afternoon, after an interesting experience with fitting in a bathtub while both tried to submerge under the water, they were warm again. They were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, eating leftover Chinese food and drinking coffee.
"I had fun today," he said suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts over which food container to grab next.
She looked up at him and smiled brightly. "Told you so," she said teasingly and pointed her fork at him.
"Feeling good now, huh?" he asked, setting his own food container down on the table.
"Of course," she said, her smile brightening even more. "I love being right."
He only shook his head at her and picked up his food again, taking a bite, smiling at her satisfied look.
After a while she laughed a little and grabbed a random food container off the table, starting to eat again. "How long do you think Eeyore will be standing out there?" she asked between bites, eyeing him carefully.
"Depends on how long you keep me entertained," he said, smirking at her. "There isn't that much to do in this town, so I might get bored."
"Well…" she said, getting up from the chair and walking around the table to him. "You can start by going to the Dragonfly with me so I can watch you be all strong and powerful while moving tables."
"You think so, huh?" he asked, looking up at her and taking her hand, pulling her down on his lap. "Wasn't the point to keep me entertained, not you?"
"I think I can find something to entertain you with in the room I asked mom for yesterday," she whispered in his ear, nibbling at it a little and smiled when he groaned.
"I think I like the sound of that," he said, and closed his eyes when she continued to his neck, alternatively licking and biting her way.
"I bet you do," she mumbled against his skin. She could feel his heartbeat speed up and felt his elevated breathing against her skin and smiled when she felt his hands tighten around her. "Well then, why don't we go find out?" she said teasingly and pulled back, smiling brightly when he protested.
"Evil woman," he muttered when she rose from his lap and started putting away the rest of the food and the dishes.
She just smiled at him until she was done when she took his hand and pulled him up from the chair. "Come on now, and no pouting," she smiled and went into her room to get an already packed bag and then pulled him with her to the foyer.
"That room better be really good," he said when he followed her out the door after putting his coat on and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
They took a detour around the diner on their way. He went upstairs to get some things while she sat at the counter sipping another cup of coffee. She stared a little at him when he came down the stair again, a bag slung over his shoulder and in the process of stuffing a book in his back pocket.
"You do know mom has a pretty good book selection at the Inn, right?" she asked, raising her eyebrows a little at him.
He finished putting the book away and grabbed a doughnut on his way up to her, taking a bite before nodding at her.
"So, you do know you don't actually have to bring your own…?" she tried.
"Somehow I doubt she'd like it very much to find my writing in them though," he said with a smirk and swallowed down the last bit of his doughnut. "And don't tell me there isn't a single book in that bag of yours," he added, holding the door open for her, eyeing her knowingly when she passed by him on her way out.
She walked out the door and held out her hand to him, smiling sheepishly. "So, what did you bring?" she asked, avoiding his question. "I didn't get a good look at it."
"Ha, ha. Thought it'd be that easy, huh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her and wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.
"Well, I know what books you've brought here with you, so all I really have to do is guess till I get it right," she said, smiling up at him, at the same time placing her arm around his waist.
"And what if I don't tell you when you guessed right?" he asked, smiling back at her and her concentrated look as she waited for the right moment to begin her next move.
"Well, then I'll just try something else, won't I?" she asked, while slowly sneaking her hand down from his waist, searching for his back pocket. She didn't get far before she found her hand caught in his and him smiling down at her.
"Well, well, Rory. Can't wait to get your hands on me, huh?" he smirked, stopping in the middle of the street and used the arm still around her shoulders to pull her flush against his body. "Now, don't you think you can wait till we get to the Inn?" he asked, holding her tight against him, laughter clearly evident in his voice.
"Hey, that's not…" she began, but cut herself off, blushing. "No fair!" she pouted, trying to free the hand trapped between their bodies to help the one still caught in his hand. "I want to know," she said, leaning her head back, her pout growing and looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Ah, ah, that won't work this time," he shook his head and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "But I must say you look really cute like that," he whispered in her ear, before releasing her and grabbing her hand, starting to walk down the street again.
Still pouting she caught up to him and walked quietly for a while before turning her head to watch him. He was looking straight ahead, but she could sense he was looking at her through the corner of his eye and she saw the hints of a smile on his lips. "You do know I'll find out sooner or later, right?" she asked, moving a little closer still.
"Oh, I know," he said, turning his head to smile at her. "It's just so much more fun this way. Don't you think?" Then he drew their intertwined hands behind her back and leaned down to kiss her mouth, effectively cutting off whatever answer she might have been about to give.
The rest of their walk to the Inn was pretty calm, apart from a couple more tries from her to get to know what book it was, although they weren't that serious. And they all ended in them stumbling down the street kissing, which she didn't really see as a failure. Just the opposite in fact.
They eventually arrived, at the moment once again lost in their own little world and didn't see the Inn at first. When they entangled themselves they both stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the building, or rather what still could be seen of it. Even Rory was surprised by the sheer amount of decorations adorning it, almost covering every possible surface.
"Are you sure we're at the right place?" he asked her after getting over the first shock.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," she answered, still staring at what only two days earlier had been a perfectly normal house, decorated for Christmas. What now greeted them looked like a gigantic, overcrowded Christmas tree.
"Do you think it's safe to go in?" he asked. "Maybe we should just turn back before something comes out and eats us, or insists on transforming us into little gnomes?"
"I think it's too late," she answered, noticing what definitely was her mother running out from under the decorations and, frenetically waving, beckoning them to come in.
"I think it's leaning towards the latter alternative," he mumbled, taking in the clothing of the woman in front of them and the enormous grin on her face. Leaning down he whispered in his girlfriend's ear, "She better not try to get me into anything bearing even the slightest resemblance to that."
"Yeah, I actually think I agree with you on that one," she said, smiling at her mother. "I don't think the pink would go very well with your eyes," she grinned and tightened her grip on his hand, pulling on it to make him come with her. "I'll protect you, I promise," she said, giving him a big smile.
"Why does that not exactly give me any comfort?" he asked, gripping her hand tighter and grimaced as he noticed the glittering fur lining Lorelai's very personal imitation of a Santa suit.
To his great relief they only had time for a very short greeting before Lorelai, summoned by a frantic kitchen help, hurried away in the direction of the kitchen to see what Sookie had done this time. And when he looked around he saw that the inside of the Inn wasn't as overhung with decorations as the outside. He silently hoped it would remain that way.
They walked past Michel, standing behind his desk with an even sourer look than normal, dressed in a red suit that sparkled in the light when he moved. He looked about to say something to them, but shut his mouth with a huff and turned around, disappearing into the office, when Rory couldn't hold back her snicker at his appearance.
"Now, that wasn't very nice," Jess reprimanded her, a stern look on his face that only made her laugh even more.
"And that should come from you," she laughed, grinning up at him till he couldn't help but smile with her.
"So, what do you say we do whatever we're supposed to do here so we can disappear from all this madness and find that room of yours?" he suggested, locking eyes with her, letting his free hand travel up her body slowly, stopping at the back of her neck and tangling it in her hair.
"Sounds like a good idea," she whispered, shivering from his touch, and closed her eyes, leaning in closer. "We're supposed to move tables I think."
An hour and a half later she was sitting in a chair against a wall in the dining room, watching him move the last tables and chairs in place for the new table setting. Putting the last chair down, he stretched his back, cracking it and flexing his shoulders a little. Smirking he watched her where she was sitting, following his movements around the room, and slowly walked up to her, leaning down till his mouth was barely touching her skin.
"Now, how much longer will you be ogling me before I can see that room of yours?" he whispered in her ear, making a chill go through her body.
"I think…we're done here," she whispered back, raising her eyes to his, catching her breath when she found them looking back at her with intense longing.
He let his arms wind around her waist, pulling her up from the chair and flush against his body. Still staring into each other's eyes they both leaned in at once, kissing passionately, and pressing against the other. Her hands found their way around his back, one of them finding its way under his shirt while the other tangled itself in the curls at the back of his neck. His hands only strayed to her hips, holding her securely in place, while his tongue invaded her mouth.
Out of breath and with speeding hearts they pulled apart to lean their foreheads together. They smiled at each other and leaned in for another kiss. He was just about to deepen it when Lorelai came bounding in through the door, excitedly talking, obviously not having seen them yet.
"Pre Christmas dinner is serv…" she started, but quickly grew silent when she noticed the pair on the other side of the room. "Oh, you don't care about dinner I see."
Rory quickly detached herself and peeked out from behind Jess' shoulder. "Hi, mom," she said quietly, smiling sheepishly. "Um, we were just…" she started explaining, but couldn't come up with anything other than the truth and stopped, casting down her eyes, blushing.
"Oh, I saw what you were doing," Lorelai told her with an amused grin. "And let me tell you, this was so not how I had imagined finding you both when I walked in here. But, that's not why I'm here. I was going to tell you that there's dinner to get in the kitchen for everyone interested. It's not anything fancy or really planned, since we obviously aren't even nearly done, although I see we at least have somewhere to sit. But anyway, dinner is served, so you can come and get some, if you want. Or you could continue what you were doing, just not here, or anywhere I might run into you again." She stopped, realizing she was starting to ramble. "So, there's dinner if you want, and I'll be leaving now. So, see ya!"
And then she turned around, walking out the same way she came, waving behind her. When they were alone again they turned to look at each other. "Maybe we should go eat," Rory said slowly, not sounding too sure.
"Yeah, maybe," he agreed somewhat sadly. "Your mother does have a pretty good ability for ruining the moment," he added, inhaling deeply and took her hand in his.
"That she does," she agreed nodding. "Sorry about this."
"It's okay. I bet you'll be getting hungry right about now anyway, so…" he smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Come on; let's go see what Sookie's invented this time."
Late that night, after eating a lot of delicious food and helping with more of the preparations for next day's big Christmas party, they found themselves alone together for the first time in hours. Everyone who had been working during the day had left and the door closed behind the last person. Lorelai, Sookie and Michel were still around somewhere, but not in sight at the moment.
They were sitting side by side on the stairs, a bit worn out after all the running, carrying and hanging they had been doing in the past hours. "You think it's safe to sneak away now?" he asked, leaning his head on the wall beside him, looking at her.
"God, I hope so," she mumbled, trying to put more energy in it than she felt she had. "I'm so tired," she yawned, scooting closer and leaning against him, closing her eyes and tried to stifle another yawn.
He hugged her to him for a second and then sat her up again, leaning her against the railing of the stair. "I'll go find our things and then we'll get you up and into bed, okay?" he said and waited for her to acknowledge she had heard him. She finally nodded and he stood up, checking so she was still sitting up before he left.
"You never told me what book you brought with you," she complained half asleep when he got back with their bags, hoisted her up from the stairs and walked them both up to their room.
"You still haven't let that go?" he asked, laughing a little as he tried to unlock the door while still holding both her and the bags. Finally he had to put the bags down, but eventually managed to get everything inside the room.
Once inside she fell down on the bed and made a halfhearted attempt to pull the covers over her, making him laugh again. "Sorry I'm so boring," she mumbled, opening an eye to look up at him and reached out a hand to wave him over.
"Don't worry," he said, smiling at her and lay down beside her. "But maybe you should try getting out of your clothes, and even get completely onto the bed?"
"Too tired," she grumbled and turned to her side, tugging on his hand to make him come closer, wrapping his arm around her.
Laughing and shaking his head he freed himself from her hold and sat up. He wrapped her out of the covers and struggled a little getting her out of her clothes before scoping her up and moving her further up in the bed and tucking her in under the covers.
Then he went to lock the door and undressed before getting a small wrapped present from his bag and putting it on the nightstand on her side of the bed. With a kiss on her cheek he assumed his former position, holding her to him with his face buried in her hair.
"Good night, Rory," he whispered and listened to her breathing level out before closing his own eyes, trying to sleep.
In the morning it was his turn to wake up first, not sure if he had slept at all. He lay still for a while, listening to her breathing. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told him it was just before six in the morning and he relaxed again, closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her hair.
He had barely closed his eyes when he felt her stir beside him as if waking up, six o'clock on the dot. It was almost as if she had been programmed the night before. Opening his eyes again he stared up at her when she sat up, completely awake in less than a second.
"It's Christmas!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly and leaned down to kiss him.
"It's early," he countered when they broke the kiss moments later.
"But it's Christmas!" she argued, shaking her head at his unenthusiastic attitude. "It's supposed to be early so you can experience it as much as possible."
"Is that so?" he asked, reaching up a hand to bring her head down for another kiss, this one a lot more thorough than the last one.
"Most definitely," she breathed when she pulled away for air.
"And what do you think should be first on the list of experiences?" he inquired, pulling her down again and turning them over so she was lying on her back, him leaning on his elbows above her.
"I don't know…" she said leisurely, positioning herself comfortably and smiling up at him thoughtfully. She let her hand travel up his arm to his neck, twirling a curl of his hair between her fingers. "You got any suggestions?"
He only smirked at her, enjoying her act of innocence, and leaned down to capture her mouth with his. It didn't take long for the kiss to get heated, tongues dueling and hands traveling over exposed skin. And soon what little clothes there were got discarded among the others on the floor.
When her breathing had stilled again she pulled her head up a little from its resting place on his chest to look at him. She smiled at the content expression on his face and leaned down again to plant a kiss on his collar bone.
"That was a wonderful start of the morning," she murmured in his ear before settling down again, listening to his heartbeat that was still a little elevated, matching hers.
"Yeah, it was," he agreed softly and tightened his hold of her, kissing the top of her head. "Merry Christmas, Rory."
"Merry Christmas, Jess," she greeted back, sighing contently and closed her eyes, just to open them right away, staring at the heap of strings and green paper on the nightstand. "What is that?" she questioned, once again pulling herself up from him, eyeing him curiously.
He had his eyes closed, but she could see the corners of his mouth turn up just far enough for her to notice. "What is what?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her with well practiced innocence.
"Oh, don't even try!" She exclaimed, trying to glare at him, but failing miserably. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
He looked at her for a couple seconds, but then released his grip on her with one arm and reached over to the nightstand to retrieve the packet. Keeping his eyes on it he took a breath and gave it to her. "It's a Christmas present. I wanted to give it to you without the whole town hanging over my back," he explained, looking up at her with a small smile and an almost nervous expression on his face.
"Oh," she said, taking it in her hand and sitting up to make it easier to unwrap it. "Thank you." She looked away from the present and met his gaze with sparkling eyes.
"You haven't even opened it yet," he said, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Don't expect too much."
She only smiled and started pulling on the strings, taking her time undoing the knots, forcing herself to take it slow and not destroy the paper too early. When she finally got the paper off she found herself holding a small undecorated, wooden box. She looked at him curiously, but he just motioned for her to open it.
She studied the box for a while, trying to figure out how to actually get it open before finding the little nick in it, just enough for a nail to fit and bend it open. It opened with a barely audible click and revealed a neatly placed circle of blue and brown stones on two separate, intertwined strands.
Her eyes quickly searched for his and they locked for a second before he lowered his, looking embarrassed. "You told me the last time you dragged me out shopping that you thought those brown stones reminded you of my eyes, which yes, I thought was way too cheesy at the time. But then I found this and those blue stones are exactly the color of your eyes when you're happy, and…"
And then he was cut off by her mouth on his, effectively stopping any further talking. "Thank you," she mumbled against his lips, smiling into the kiss and reached the box out to him.
She smiled at him when he looked up at her, locking eyes with her for a second before concentrating on the necklace and getting the clasp securely fasted around her neck. "You're welcome," he said when he was done, his hand slowly tracing a path from her neck down her arm.
"A very good start of Christmas so far," she said and lay down again, once more resting her head on his chest. Slowly she trailed her hand over his chest, feeling the movement as he breathed softly.
She smiled when he took her hand in his, entwining their fingers and brought it up to his mouth to give it a soft kiss.
