Disclaimer: Don't own anything. I'm poor, etc.

Summary: Rory Gilmore has been running her grandfather's publishing house for a year now. She is surprised when she gets a phone call by her mother's ex-boyfriend Luke who asks her a certain favor. Starting from there, her life starts to alter rapidly. AU

A/N: You wouldn't be reading this, if it weren't for LitLove, who inspired it, and especially for my wonderful beta - Ara May, who has been supporting it all along. Thank you, ladies! Dear Ara, you make all of this worth it!

...

A heart is always in a cage. Anatomically, it's a simple fact laid in the basics of human nature. Brain's in a box, heart's in a cage. Programmed in our drive, we're born with it. As simple as that.

...

'I kissed Jess.'

Stacy's lips paused in a silent "O".

'And then ran away.'

'Aw.'

'Aw? That's all you have to say? Aw? You've been ragging me about him for weeks and now all you have to say is 'Aw'?'

'Well, I didn't really expect to be right, I guess. What does young Kerouac think of it?'

Rory shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Uncrossing her legs. Then crossing them again. Bargaining with her own conscience.

'I... I don't know. I've been avoiding him ever since.'

Stacy laughed in disbelief.

'How is that possible? You're practically working in the same room.'

Rory sighed and bit a lip.

'Jeez. I kissed Jess. It's so wrong.'

Stacy refilled their mugs with coffee.

'Mhm, it's a bit naughty.'

Rory shook her head, ignoring the pointed look Stacy was giving her.

'He reminds me of her, Stace.'

Stacy's brows lifted and her hand paused in the air, holding the coffee jug. Rory wasn't looking at her, though. She was talking more to herself than to anyone in particular.

'Mom. He reminds me of mom.'

'Well, sweets, now this is wrong.'

Rory's look was still fixed somewhere beyond the wall of Stacy's kitchen when she continued.

'He makes me feel...' Rory made an indefinite gesture with her arm in the air and shook her head. 'When she was... When I'm around him, I feel so... alive.'

'Oh.'

'He sees Lorelai in me,' Rory concluded, as if this was one single fact, explaining all universe mysteries.

'But, hon, you are Lorelai.'

Rory looked up , snapping out of her inward contemplation, and her eyes resembled seawater before a storm when she swallowed hard and mumbled.

'Exactly.'

She paused to look at him (first time she allowed herself to, for the last two weeks) in disbelief, her hands frozen, palms turned up as she waited for the printer to get the sheets out.

'Is that... is that a hickey on your neck?'

He touched his neck, feigning embarrassment.

'Nope.'

'Yeah, sure.' She rolled her eyes.

Then his expression got cocky and he quirked an eyebrow.

'I bit myself. Shaving,' he explained casually and passed her by on his way out.

'Jeez,' she shook her head, appalled. 'Just how old are you?'

Sheets began to come out in her hands, warming her palms.

He didn't turn back to grant her with a reply and she threw him a sour look, biting a lip as she watched him leave.

'She's a bit boring,' Chris mused over his pizza, watching as the short blonde waitress passed between the tables and headed for the counter where Jess was sitting over one of the high stools.

Matt put his tea on the table with an indignant expression.

'What's wrong with you, man? She's fine.'

Chris made a face as they watched the curvy blonde leave the tray over the counter and put her hands round Jess' neck, giving him a long kiss on the lips, pressing herself flush against him.

'No, wait,' Matt shook his head and snapped his fingers, 'She's more than fine, she's gorgeous.'

Chris just rolled his eyes.

'Oh, come on, Chris,' Matt's expression suddenly turned serious. 'You know he was getting himself into deep water there. He's better off this way.'

Chris threw another look towards the counter where Jess' hands were traveling down her lower back, sliding into the back pockets of her jeans, and sighed in defeat.

'She does have great boobs,' he shrugged and concentrated back on his pizza.

'That's my man,' Matt smirked, giving Chris an approving nod.

No man deserved to be played with. Especially if he was about to become the toy of a Gilmore. At least that was Matt's opinion.

She was hurrying towards her car, maneuvering on her high heels between the other cars. She hated those heels. They were only worth a tool for self-defense. The right leash was killing her ankle.

She pressed the unlock button of the car remote and sighed with relief at the thought of the comfortable seat of her Avensis. The alarm greeted her with a friendly beep and right then she stumbled into someone.

'Excuse me... Oh, great,' she sighed as her eyes fixed a dark-haired young man in light blue jeans and a black leather jacket.

'Were you calling me?' Jess asked straight, making a step forward so that their eyes leveled.

'What?'

'Come on, Rory, yes or no? Were you calling me and then keeping silent?' his eyes narrowed and flashed a warning to not lie to him. She ignored it.

'You're delusional,' she cut him off and tried to make her way past him, but he put a hand on the car hood to her left, blocking her way.

She gave him a sharp look.

'Move away.'

'Am I making you nervous?' he challenged.

'Oh, please.'

'You've been avoiding me.'

'No, I haven't.'

'Why?'

'Why haven't I been avoiding you?' she crossed her hands before her chest, playing dumb. 'Jeez, I don't know, should I have a reason?' she challenged back.

He ignored her show, his chin tensing as he leaned forward. She winced involuntarily, feeling the vague smell of anger and his cologne brush her receptors.

'Why did you kiss me?'

Her lips pursed into a thin white line.

'Why did you throw this year's Winter Festival?' she asked instead of a reply.

Something in his eyes shifted and they turned a shade warmer as he sighed,

'I've been trying to talk to you.'

Who could tell his voice could lose its edge so quickly. She felt her heart speed up, her eyes easily drowning in the eye lock, but then chastised herself mentally. This, whatever it was, wasn't going anywhere.

'Well, you couldn't have, having Bambie plastered over your mouth,' she snapped and pushed him away, using his distraction to go past him and make her way to the car.

She got in and slammed the door closed, ignoring the slight trembling of her hands as she started the engine. In the rear view mirror she caught a glimpse of him standing behind the car, something like a smirk playing over his face. Oh, damn him. She licked a lip agitatedly, trying to get her composure back. Okay, nothing's happened. Just get out of here. Now.

She pulled out of her parking place slowly, but then her foot slipped, the goddamn right leash tearing apart before she regained her position over the brakes. A muffled thud coming from the back of the car made her blood freeze, her currently shoeless right foot firm over the brakes for another couple of seconds before she regained the ability to move.

Then she ran out of the car, blood pounding wildly in her ears.

'Jess!' she knelt next to him. 'Jess... Jesus...'

'Hell, Rory, what were you try... shit,' he made a painful grimace as he tried to stand up and rubbed his left hip. 'You really know how to make a point, eh?' he added, deciding on a half sitting position, leaning onto his right arm.

'I'll call an ambulance,' Rory said, already dialing.

He lifted a hand in protest.

'Jeez, no. I'm fine.'

'You're hurt.'

'I'll live,' he grunted impatiently.

She looked at him with her eyes wide, as if in disbelief. Jess moved to a sitting position, suppressing a groan as he moved his right foot to a bend next to the left.

'See?' he asked, nodding towards his feet. 'You'll have to try again.'

She stared at him strangely, blindly, her eyes a deep, unblinking blue, and bit her lip.

'I'm sorry.'

'Huh.'

He couldn't decide if he was more irritated or amused by this statement. He was ready to smirk when he noticed how watery her eyes actually were.
'Jeez, I'm so sorry,' she uttered before she turned her head to the side and covered her mouth with her wrist, suppressing a sob unsuccessfully.

Jess' eyebrows knit and he stared at her for a couple of seconds, unable to figure out what was happening. Well, she was crying, that was one thing. And she wasn't putting up a show, he decided.

'Hey...' he moved to sit closer to where she was kneeling, one foot in a heel, the other one bare. A lost Cinderella. 'Hey, Rory, come on.'

He lifted a hand and hesitated for a second before moving her hair out of the way, so that it uncovered her face.

'Rory, look at me.'

She was shaking, both hands covering her mouth, one over the other. Jeez, she was losing it, right there.

Jess wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel more amused or worried by her sudden change of demeanor. He decided on just being surprised and tried to level her eyes.

'Rory, come on,' he said in a gentler voice.

As he didn't get her attention, he draped an arm over her shaking shoulders and was surprised at the ease with which she submitted to his touch, leaning into his half embrace.

A bit awkwardly, he lifted his left arm to close around her, as well, swallowing her sobs within his wider frame.

'I'm so sorry,' she shook against his chest.

'I know,' he said, one hand moving by its own will to soothe her hair.

'I lied,' she admitted, in a voice that belonged to a much, much younger version of her. 'I was calling you.'

'I know,' he smiled against her hair. She smelled like cookies and chocolate. Maybe vanilla and cedarwood. Or maybe she had just visited a bakery shop during lunch break.

He felt some twisted kind of comfort, with her sudden fall of guard, suddenly so open and vulnerable.

'It's okay,' he whispered in her hair and swayed her soothingly. 'It's okay.'

'What's with your mom, anyway?' Rory asked, going between the lines of bookshelves, taking a book and then putting it back in its place absentmindedly.

Jess was following her, holding a Les Miserables copy in his hands.

'Nothing,' he dismissed her question, turning another page.

'Yeah. Sure,' she moved her mouth to the side, taking another book, then returning it. If he didn't want to talk, he wouldn't. She knew him long enough to know at least that much.

'No, I mean it,' he shook his head, although she couldn't really see him.

She stopped walking and he stopped, too, almost bumping into her, lifting his eyes questioningly. Pure innocence.

I mean it.

He meant it.

'When it comes to her, it's all filled with blanks, so nothing is with her,' he shrugged, keeping the lock.

She drilled into his eyes for a while. As always, he held her gaze. Strange thing, whenever she decided to scrutinize him, she ended up being scrutinized herself. She wanted to test him, but somehow always ended up testing herself.

'I will if you will.'

You really meant it, eh?

'Huh?'

'I'll go see my mom if you go see yours,' she repeated, crossing her hands before her chest.

For some reason, whenever it came to him, she wanted to cut deep.

Jess blinked bluntly a couple of times before sinking back into the book in his hands, walking past her like she hadn't said anything, like she wasn't in the library at all.

'I thought so,' she concluded coldly after watching him for a couple of seconds.

His back lacked any kind of response.

She nodded once and left the library, trying to feel triumphant, but somehow failing and feeling sad instead.

'It terrifies me that I may feel this unhappy. Again. What I... when she... It still hurts so damn much. You would think that, with time, pain will get smaller. But it doesn't. It's a dull feeling that's always there, and it's consuming... to a level where you stop feeling joy or sadness, like, in order to move on, you become colorblind. Until one day someone shows you a rainbow. And I... I don't wanna go through this again. Through any part of it. I can't, Stace. I just can't.'

A The Killers CD was on as he turned the key and ignited the engine.

Rory's look was lost out of the window, deep in thought. She hadn't said a word ever since she saw him stop his ancient Chevy before her on the parking lot. She had climbed in without asking questions, knowing exactly where they were going even before he headed for the highway.

... I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine...

She turned to look at him. His fingers were absentmindedly tapping over the wheel in time with the music. Her eyes paused on his lips, he was unconsciously moving them without actually singing along, while she was unconsciously reminiscing what they tasted like.

... It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this...

She winced but he was so concentrated on the road and his own thoughts that she doubted he was actually paying any attention to the song. Or to her presence on the passenger seat.

Funny thing, what would he be thinking right now? Why was he taking this ride with her? Was he just bored, looking for a thrill? Maybe. But, then again, maybe she was, too. Hell, her life had always been so ordered, so set on achieving her life goals, bound to make things the way she had planned to, that it was making her sick. While he, in turn, didn't seem to have a plan at all. No big dream, no tomorrow in his calculations. His plans stretched no further than the present moment. No day but today. No other word but his own. It annoyed and thrilled her at the same time.

... I pack my case. I check my face.
I look a little bit older.
I look a little bit colder...

Rory bit a lip, chasing the daydream away. She moved her look away from him, feeling a crimson red creep up her cheeks, and looked out of the window.

'It's a dull feeling that's always there, and it's consuming... to a level where you stop feeling joy or sadness, like, in order to move on, you become colorblind. Until one day someone shows you a rainbow.'

... I caught my stride.
I flew and flied.
I know if destiny's kind, I've got the rest of my mind.
But my heart, it don't beat, it don't beat the way it used to...

'It terrifies me that I may feel this unhappy. Again.'

Rory turned to the side, closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

'I think she would want me to talk to her.'

He was a bit surprised to hear her voice. They had driven in silence for the last two hours and he thought she must have fallen asleep.

'She loved talking so much... we both did. Think she would've wanted me to talk to her.' Rory continued her unexpected confession.

Jess continued to drive, his look steadily fixed ahead while in fact he was listening intently.

'Luke...' she continued, drawing a breath in for courage, 'he talks to her, doesn't he?'

His brows knit.

'Your book,' she explained.

Jess nodded and she bit a lip.

'He okay?'

Jess' eyebrows flew up.

Really? After seven years, you're suddenly worried about Luke's emotional state?

He threw her a sideways glance and let a sigh out. Who was he to judge, anyway?

'He's okay,' he informed vaguely.

'You know, they used to be so Curly and Laurie,' Rory smiled, reminiscing. 'We would hang in the Diner for hours, pretending to be starving.'

'Hey, I thought a Gilmore was always starving.'

'And what was the initial reason for that, do you think?'

'Huh.'

'And Luke would pull that gruff face, his serious busy look, you know? And pretend that we were either invisible or beyond obnoxious, sometimes both, huh, but one day, when we didn't go to the Diner for breakfast, Luke materialized on the porch, bringing us lunch, cause there was so much food anyway, you know, he didn't want it to go to waste, it was a shame, after all, when half of the world suffered starvation, blah-blah.'

'Sounds like him,' Jess smirked knowingly.

'Why are you only nice to me?' she asked suddenly. His gaze didn't waver, fixed on the road just as before.

'Excuse me?'

'You're nice to me. Why?' she wouldn't give up so easily.

It had been raining. The pavement was still wet. He shrugged nonchalantly.

'I'm a people person, I like to see everyone happy.'

'Please.'

'Now this is not a nice thing to say, Miss Gilmore,' he mock chastised her.

She bit back a smile.

'Plus,' he pulled up a self-content smirk, 'you're the only almost cousin I've had so far, so I figured it couldn't hurt too much to be decent.'

'Huh,' she crossed her arms before her chest, 'and your soon to be your boss again.'

'Yeah, that too. Almost slipped my mind.'

'I figured.'

'Huh,' he bent to look at something through the window.

'What?' she leaned forward, trying to follow his gaze.

'A rainbow,' he pointed to their left, where a rainbow had anchored into the lawns.

Her smile stilled on her lips just as they passed by the 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' sign to her right, feeling caught by surprise. She had almost forgotten they were coming here. Almost.

I have no idea what you think about this... unless you let me know. Please?