AN: I am immensely proud of this chapter. I don't know why, I mean, it's probably not exactly what it should be, or what was expected, but, since I've never had one of those 'prefect' Valentine's, I don't know how they're supposed to go. Maye it's just because I'm so tired. I'll go to bed in a minute, but anyways, hopefully this is as much fun for you as it was for me. If not, well, I'll just have to try harder next year, won't I?
--
"Alright, it's official; get out your tape recorders boys, because I doubt I'll say this too often, but this place," Rory said, holding Jess' hand as they walked around the town square that night, Tristan trailing behind them, "is the happiest place on earth!"
"Really? What about Disney World?" Tristan asked.
"Oh no, Walt's just going to have to accept that his dream has been knocked from the top spot. There's a new magical place to be."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Jess commented. "This is the same girl who said, and I quote 'I've been here five minutes, and I already know that I will always hate it here. There's nothing you or anyone else can say that will change my mind.' correct?"
"I didn't really say that. Did I?" Rory checked.
"'Fraid so. Although, I guess you can be forgiven, because obviously, you mom, Sookie, Luke, everyone was conspiring to ruin your life."
"But they were!" Rory agreed. "You don't know, they were being so evil."
"Maybe it was all a part of my master plan to get you back here, you know, after you cruelly ran off to New York and left me at the tender age of… two."
"Right, yes. Because we all know I was the one doing the decision making back then."
"Is this for real?" Tristan asked, putting a hand out to stop the other two as he paused and stared in wonder at the goings-on in the town square.
"Of course it is. Taylor is in charge, remember?"
"Taylor, right. That guy rocks."
"I think you'd be the only person in the history of the world to ever think that." Rory told him.
"Maybe so, but I am certain that future generations will hear of these things and come to recognize the true genius of the man."
"Only if you're the one telling them, and you put a certain spin on the tale."
"Hey, isn't that Lindsay?" Tristan asked, pointing across the square to where she stood near the kissing booth. "I'm gonna go say hi, leave the two of you alone to enjoy your night and whatever," he decided, walking off to meet up with the blonde.
"And then there were two," Rory commented, smiling at Jess, but he wasn't paying attention.
"Should I be worried?" he asked, watching the two of them greet one another.
"About one of your best friends making a beeline to go hit on another one of your best friends?"
"Yeah, that."
"Definitely, yes. But not now. Later, ok? Now, we are having fun. Remember fun?"
"Vaguely,"
"Well, allow me to refresh your memory. It's over there and it's waiting for you to poke a stick at it, come on." Rory pulled on his arm, attempting to get him to move towards where Kirk stood in a big heart costume, handing out individually wrapped chocolates, but his feet were glued to the spot. "Hey, hey! Look at me. Forget about them, forget all of it, let's just have a good time, ok?" Rory requested, as one of Miss Patty's dance students pranced by in a pink tutu and fairy wings, carrying a quiver of arrows and a plastic bow. "Ok?"
"Yeah. Alright, let's go. You want to go see the fortune teller?"
"Nah, she'll probably just tell me that one day soon I'll meet a tall dark and handsome stranger who will sweep me off my feet. I don't want to ruin your night."
"Thank you for your consideration. So… what then?"
"Can I have my present now?"
"I thought you said you wanted it after."
"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. It is my prerogative as a woman. Do you have it?"
Jess nodded. "But I'm not giving it to you here. Come on." He started pulling her away from the crowds and soon they were alone, headed down a dark path.
"Oh my god, I should have known, you're that serial killer people have been so worried about, aren't you? First you terrorize Boston, then Providence, now here. You should know that people saw me leave with you, they'll know whodunit."
"Whose gonna suspect me?" Jess asked, grabbing Rory's other hand and holding them behind her back as she walked backwards and they continued to make their way through the snow. "I seem to remember someone once referring to me as Stars Hollow's golden boy. And besides, no one really likes you anyways."
"I can't believe I fell for it," Rory muttered, dropping into a sitting position on the bridge, Jess following a moment later.
"And you thought I was the naïve one," he shook his head and reached inside his pocket. Having fun with the charade, Rory gasped and shrank back.
"Please! Don't kill me; I still have so much to live for!"
"You're actually very dramatic, it's good. Entertaining,"
"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal."
"So, you want this now, or later, Miss O'Hara?"
"Mmm, I think now. Yes, definitely now. Gimmie!"
Jess obediently handed over the box he'd been carrying in his jacket pocket and Rory tore off the ribbon before lifting the lid. "Oh! They're beautiful," she gushed, looking between the earrings and Jess, not sure where to focus her attention. "Thank you so much. I love them."
"Good, I'm glad. Lane will be pleased too. She helped."
"You hold onto that one mister, she's a keeper." Rory advised him, once again staring into the jewelry box. "Oh my God, I feel like such a dork giving this to you now, but…" she reached into her bag and pulled out a rectangle covered in black crepe paper. "I'm sorry, but there was no way I was going to buy any of that stuff with the cartoon hearts and flowers. I may be willing to defend this day in Luke's presence, but-"
"Hey, Ror, can I… you wanna give that to me now?" Jess asked, reaching for the box.
"No."
"Not fair,"
"Yeah, but your present was pretty, mine's just stupid."
"Let me be the judge of that?" he gently pulled the package from her hands and removed the paper. "Wow. This is… wow."
"It's not that big of a deal," Rory shook her head, trying to downplay the gift.
"This is a really, really nice pen. I can't believe you got me this."
"Well, I was in my grandfather's study the other week, just looking around at his books and his globe, you know. And I saw this pen on the-"
"You stole your grandfather's pen?"
"No! I saw a pen on his desk, and I picked it up and it was like that; a good pen, a real one. Not one of those crappy plastic ones you get in the supermarket. And I thought to myself, 'this is a writer's pen, and Jess should have one.' So I went looking and I found one."
"Thank you. This is really… it's so great."
"We're very articulate tonight, aren't we?" Rory observed, grinning.
"Yeah, well. I've been meaning to tell you, I'm actually very stupid. I've just been putting on an act this whole time."
"Oh, thank God you said something. I'm not sure how long I could have kept pretending for."
"Shut up."
"Oh good one, now say-" Jess cut her off by capturing her lips in and a kiss and Rory smiled. "Yep, that's exactly what I wanted you to say," she said a moment later.
--
"And they're off," Lindsay commented, watching Jess and Rory disappear from the crowd. "Think they'll be back anytime soon?"
"No, probably not. I mean, Jess threatened me with some kind of injuries if I were to interrupt their romantic staring-lovingly-at-one-another-for-hours-on-end night, so, I think, they've worked out that the best way to have that, uninterrupted is to go somewhere private."
"Huh, ok." They continued walking for a bit, Tristan looking around, trying to take everything in before Lindsay started to laugh.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing, I…" she tried to catch her breath, but couldn't stop laughing. "It's just that… I mean, he's… It's Jess. And Rory is just about the…" she counted something on her fingers for a moment. "Yep, the last person I would have ever pictured him with, but even so, as funny as the idea is, in my head, they actually seem to fit. You know?"
"Yeah, I do. They are an interesting combination."
"I know."
"Is that Lane?" Tristan asked, turning around to look at one of the booths they had just passed.
"'Toss the Sybarite into the Hellfire'! Everybody's a winner!"
"Oh, yeah. That's Mrs. Kim's thing. Every Valentine's, every winter carnival, pretty much anytime there's a town event, and the possibility of sinning, there's Mrs. Kim with her pamphlet's about how every single one of us is headed straight for hell. I actually kind of miss those things, and the lecture's she used to give me. I think they were more out of concern than anything else. Coz, you know, Lane and I were the good little girls who were being corrupted by our friend, the son of an unmarried woman."
"Corrupted? By Jess? Are you for real?"
"She was deadly serious."
"I've gotta meet this woman." He turned back towards where Lane was calling out to the festival patrons.
"No, no, no! Don't do that, trust me on this, but you don't want to do that right this second."
"Why not?"
"Well, first of all, you're clothes are all wrong."
"My… what's wrong with my clothes?"
"To meet Mrs. Kim and make a good first impression, you must dress correctly; clean slacks, a nice shirt, preferably a tie. And your hair should be combed neatly. But you, young man, you would be eviscerated within seconds."
"But it's not like I want to- Ok, you know what, let's forget about that. Thank you, for saving me, we'll just talk to Lane some other time."
"I think that's very wise." Lindsay nodded, before waving to Sookie as they passed.
"… Just for a minute Jackson. I promise that's all. I just want to pop in, check that the-"
"Sookie, we talked about this. Bob is there. Bob can take care of everything, you trained Bob, Bob is, essentially you, when you aren't there. Now, please, can we just enjoy ourselves here?"
"But I just-" he shook his head at her. "I was- Ok, fine. We can stay here, enjoy… whatever."
"There, that's just what I want to hear from my wife on Valentine's Day. 'Fine, whatever.' How very romantic," he replied, sarcastically.
"I'm sorry Jackson, but my job is important to me."
"I know it is, but, our marriage is important to me. So is our baby. But, I'd like to have a chance to spend a little more time with you, before the baby comes, so if you wouldn't mind…"
"Let's go and get some hot chocolates," Sookie suggested, trying to relax and enjoy herself. "That'd be nice. Wouldn't it?"
"Yes, I think it would." Jackson agreed, and putting an arm around his wife's shoulders, he began to lead her over to the booth, passing by Lane on their way.
"I think that we're losing their interest, Lane. Maybe we'll call it a night?" Mrs. Kim suggested, reaching for a stack of pamphlets and neatening them in their pile before putting them into a box with a bunch of others.
"Oh, are you sure, Mama? Because, I can keep going, I don't mind. I'm sure I can get a few people back here."
"No, no. That's alright. We've done very well tonight, educated a lot of people, you go off and enjoy yourself."
"Ok, thanks. I'll see you at home then?"
"Yes, nine pm sharp."
"Right, of course, I'll see you at nine." Lane nodded and slipped out from of the booth. She looked around for a moment, hoping to find one of her friends - because she really didn't want to resort to tagging along with Sookie and Jackson on this particular night - and spotted Tristan throwing baseballs at a pyramid of bottles. Lindsay clapped encouragingly as he knocked down all but three. "Hey guys!" Lane stepped up beside them and they both turned to smile at her.
"Lane! Did you bring me a pamphlet?"
"You don't want one, come on. I thought you were kidding about that."
"No, Lane, hell is waiting for us, we're sinners," Tristan replied. "We need to read up, be prepared."
"You know I actually believe that?"
"That's not nice." He told her, turning back and throwing one last ball, knocking down the remaining bottles.
"Congratulations, who's the lucky lady?" the boy manning the stand asked, holding up a bear. Tristan took it and handed it to Lindsay.
"That's what you get for being mean to me."
"You mean I have to win my own sad, pathetic little bear? Darn!"
"Ok, you two, put the claws away. Who wants a cookie? My treat."
"Well, I have to be home in an hour, so I should make the most of the time I have here. Load me up on sugar and whatever else we can get our hands on." Lane instructed as Tristan took a look around again. He couldn't manage to see everything at once, it was all just too much; things had to be taken in gradually.
"You want me to get you some punch?"
"No!" both girls cried out, each grabbing one of Tristan's arms.
"It's bad? Seems… moderately popular. Are you sure?"
"That stuff is lethal. Very, very bad things happen when people drink it." Lane explained. "Trust us you want to keep a safe distance."
"No fair," Tristan pouted as they headed over to the Stars Hollow middle schools' cookie stand. "I want Founder's Day Punch!"
"You can have some when you're forty and you've developed an indestructible stomach," Jess promised as he and Rory came to join them in line.
"Hey, look who it is. You guys have a nice time off in the dark all by yourselves?"
"Yes, actually." Rory replied. "I particularly enjoyed the part where we were attacked by a werewolf-wendigo tag team. Let's see, what else happened, um… vampires jumped out of the shadows at us and-"
"We very much enjoyed ourselves, yes." Jess interrupted, wrapping an arm around Rory's shoulders. "Thank you for asking."
"Werewolves and wendigos, aren't they the same thing?" Lindsay asked as they moved to the front of the line.
"Pretty much. Slight difference, but it doesn't matter; Jess managed to fight all of them off and we made it back here alive, so all is well."
"Way to go man. Nice work."
"Thank you… I think."
"Alright, very good." Lindsay turned and led the group away, carrying a box. "Let us celebrate with a cookie. Here, everybody take one, there we go. Very nice. Ok, so, I have no idea why I just did that, sounds as if I want to give a speech or something, which I-"
"Speech! Speech!" The other four called out and she shook her head.
"No! Come on, don't be stupid."
"Speech!"
"Oh, God. You guys suck. Ok, well, happy Valentine's Day to you all, I hope you enjoyed your evening, and your cookie, and I'm now going to rush home to hide under my bed, coz this was totally stupid. Good night!"
"Good one Linds, not embarrassing at all." Jess told her, throwing an arm around her shoulders, over her head he mouthed to the others 'so humiliating!'
"Shut up." She shoved him away and they all laughed as they continued to move around the square.
--
"Ok, so this is the part of the evening, where the gentleman would normally walk his young lady friend to her door, but-"
"'Young lady friend'?" Rory repeated, looking over at Jess incredulously as they walked towards Luke's. "Where the hell did that come from?"
"I must have heard it in an old movie or something. Never mind. Anyway, as I was saying, this is the part of the night where I'm supposed to walk you up to your door and make sure you got home safe. But, considering what you did, and what you made me help you do, to my sweet, caring uncle, who has done nothing but support and-"
"Uh huh, move it along, was there a point to this monologue?" she asked as they stopped out the front of the diner and Rory produced her key.
"I'm not going up there. You can face Luke and his unspeakable wrath all on your own. Ok? Good. See ya," Jess turned to leave, but Rory caught his jacket, pulling him back.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Uh, gave you your gift, saved you from imaginary evil creatures, walked you home, unspeakable wrath… um, no. I think that was just about all of it."
"You're supposed to kiss the girl, Jess. Don't you remember that part from the movies?"
"Oh, right. Sorry, I must have just, forgotten."
"Mmm, I'm sure you did. Come here," Rory wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling him closer and kissed him. Eventually she pulled back, glanced up at the windows and said, "So, unspeakable wrath, huh? Do you think I could hide at your house tonight?"
"I really don't think that would help your case at all."
"Well, it would keep me alive until morning. And we all know that a planet, on which Rory Gilmore lives, is a much happier place to be."
"That is so true. But, also, if you were to come to my house with me now, you would most likely have to speak to my mother. And TJ."
"Well, it was nice knowing you. I hope you live a long and fruitful life," Rory replied after a moment of consideration.
"Gotta pick your battles." Jess started to walk away as Rory struggled to fit the key into the lock. "You never know, it may have gone ok tonight. Maybe you actually did some good."
"Maybe," she nodded and headed inside as he made his way back along the street. "Here's hoping…" she mumbled as she made her way up the stairs.
--
AN2: I am so sorry. But I'm still watching Buffy, and I'm still watching Charmed, and apparently, even when my mind is trying to desperately cling to the east coast, bits and pieces from the west still manage to creep in. That aside, I really would love to hear how much you loved this. If you loathed it, you can… no, tell me. You should tell me if it sucked, I should listen to that as well, so come on, tell me what you think.