AN: Thank you to everyone who posted positive comments about the chapter! It took me a lot time to write it so I'm glad it was well received :) I hope that I replied to everyone, but if I missed you, I apologize! Holidays are hectic for me. Sorry this is up later than planned! Enjoy xo
P.s. Is anyone annoyed by the direct messaging? Would people prefer I respond to feedback at the end of chapters to de-clutter your inboxes? I just want to make sure people feel thanked!
Rory shoots up in her seat.
"So I can stay?"
It was all Rory could to do hold in her excitement at Ms. Leon's declaration. She was seated in a chair next to Ms. Leon's desk, staring at her incredulously. Ms. Leon smiles at Rory and nods.
"Oh thank you," Rory continues, letting herself smile brightly. "It would have been so much work to catch up on at Chilton, and I really love observing you facilitate."
Ms. Leon gives Rory a look. Rory's stomach drops; she knows that look from her mother. It meant something not awesome was coming.
"There's just one thing, Rory," Ms. Leon says, folding her hands together. Rory swallows and bites her lip on the inside.
"Yeah?"
"You'll need to be removed from Mr. Mariano's individual sessions," the older woman continues, offering Rory an apologetic smile. Rory returns the smile with a look of confusion, so Ms. Leon goes on.
"Everyone is going to have favourites in group work," she explains. "But we want to minimize how obvious that is in a group context to mitigate any feelings of unworthiness for the clients."
Rory's eyebrows knit together. "What does this have to do with the individual therapy sessions?"
"I've noticed you've gotten quite attached to Mr. Mariano—"
"Ms. Leon, I—"
"Now, now," Ms. Leon holds up a hand to silence Rory. "I know what I see. You talk almost every time after group, and Denise tells me how engaged you are during sessions. This isn't a punishment, Rory. But I'm calling it how I see it. With Mr. Mariano moving to your neighborhood, it will be better for him to have private time to be able to process the transition without feeling like he has a second shadow. I think it's important for you to stay in the group, but I'm very firm on you going to another person for individual."
Rory sucks in a breath and blows it out slowly. She crosses her arms across her chest and stares at her feet. Why was everyone so insistent on telling her that she had feelings for Jess? So he was appealing to her — big deal! She loved Dean; that didn't mean she couldn't be friends with other guys, did it?
Rory looks up at Ms. Leon and nods.
"I think it would be a nice change of pace if you sat in with Samuel," Ms. Leon continues. "He's Tuesdays after group; is that okay with your schedule?"
Rory picks at a cuticle. It flashes through her mind that Jess had wanted to meet with her Tuesday night. She shakes her head. She couldn't plan her schedule around some guy who was only sort of a friend.
"Sure, I think that will be fine," Rory says with an unconvincing smile. "Thank you for being so accommodating. You won't regret it, I promise!"
Ms. Leon smiles and reaches out to brush Rory's arm, a warm gesture.
"I know I won't."
Rory nods and gets up to leave. She makes it to the door when Ms. Leon calls her.
"Make sure that you keep whatever happens at home private," Ms. Leon reminds her. "Whatever does or doesn't happen between you and Mr. Mariano must stay outside of the group dynamics, and whatever does or doesn't happen inside of the group must stay inside of the group."
She nods. Rory rushes out of the room as her stomach clenches at yet another mention of something possibly happening with Jess.
Rory walks to the jeep, feeling foggy. She had really grown to like her Thursday night conversations with Jess. It would be strange to have them with Samuel… or anyone else, for that matter. Rory was a creature of habit, that much was certain. She hated when the script was flipped on her, even if she did trust Ms. Leon's judgment.
Rory knew she should be grateful. She was happy that she didn't have to leave the group. It meant no makeshift assignments or catching up; her grades would remain unaffected. And it meant that she did get to see Jess twice a week, no matter what happened.
"No matter what does or doesn't happen between you and Mr. Mariano," she hears Ms. Leon say in her head.
Rory purses her lips and gets into the jeep, slamming the door.
Nothing is going to happen, period, Rory tells herself.
She puts the key in the ignition and starts the engine. She feels her pager go off and checks it, only to see Dean's number pop up on the screen.
Rory sighs and looks at her hands. She puts them back on the steering wheel and drives home, feeling entirely unconvinced that there wasn't already something happening. Rory makes a mental note to call Dean when she gets home and not forget about it like she had done with the previous three pages.
"Hello?"
"Hi."
Jess sits up on his blowup mattress and looks at the clock. It was nearing 8:00, right around the time he would walk Rory out to her car. He smiles.
"Hey."
"I talked to Ms. Leon today," Rory says into the phone.
Jess inhales sharply and sits up. Rory didn't sound that upset, did she? Was her tone calm, or perhaps indifferent? Maybe everything was fine and she didn't have to leave group. Or maybe she did have to leave group and was regretting the hug, and that's why she didn't sound that upset. Maybe he was just an infatuation.
Or you could ask her instead of being a punk about it, his subconscious scolds.
Jess grits his teeth and rolls his eyes. That was probably the lamest mental dialogue he'd allowed himself in his entire life.
"Oh," he hears himself saying coolly. He pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah… are you home alone?"
Jess raises an eyebrow on his end. "Why? You planning on coming to keep me company?"
He can almost hear her blushing on the other end and he can't help but smirk.
"I hate you," Rory grumbles into the phone. "You're worse than my mother."
"Ouch, that stings, Ms. Gilmore," Jess pouts into the phone. The two laugh and a calm settles over the conversation.
I guess if she was regretting everything we wouldn't still be on the phone, so.
"So what did the old hag say?" He asks, leaning back on his elbows. Rory sounds scandalized.
"Jess! Don't call Ms. Leon that! She's the reason I get to stay," Rory blurts out.
There's a silence as Jess processes what Rory had said.
"Huh," he muses.
"Oh, well, that's why I called. I went to group today, and instead of staying for your s—well, I talked to Ms. Leon and she agreed to let me stay."
Jess lets out a slow breath and smiles a small smile.
"Okay," he says simply.
"I'm not on your sessions anymore, though," Rory adds, sounding sullen.
Jess considers this. It was disappointing that he wouldn't have that one on one time anymore. Jess sits up and turns himself to lean his back against Luke's bed. Something clicks. They lived in the same town, didn't they?
"That's not so bad," he tells her, listening to try to hear a reaction.
"It's not?" She sounds disappointed.
"No. We live in the same town, don't we? It probably makes more sense if we start carpooling."
Rory laughs, and Jess can almost hear her smiling as she talks. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad, then. Hey, you're not just trying to use me for my gas, are you?"
"Hey, I have nothing but honorable intentions," Jess defends, smirking to himself. "Besides, I wouldn't expect you to brunt the weight. I'm gonna help Luke at the diner, so I'll have money."
"Whatever you say, Mariano," Rory laughs into the phone.
"That's how I like my women—obedient." Jess waits for the explosion, holding back a laugh.
"What!"
"I'm kidding," he insists, letting his laugh fill the receiver. There's a slight pause on Rory's end and he takes the opportunity to ask what's on his mind.
"Why didn't you wait?" Jess finds himself asking, laying down on the mattress.
"Wait for what?" Rory sounds confused over the line.
"To tell me in person?"
There's a pause on the other end.
"I just wanted you to know," she says softly.
Jess's stomach clenches. He smiles. He would be lying to himself if he said it didn't feel nice to know that she cared enough about how he'd react to call him.
"I'm glad you called," he says sincerely.
"Yeah?" She sounds hopeful.
"Yeah," Jess assures her, stretching an arm behind his head.
"But Rory, that's so late, can't I come get you?" Dean asks, furrowing his eyebrows.
"No, Dean, really. You work late on Tuesdays and to have to come all the way down to get me? I'll get home quicker and you'll be less exhausted, I promise," Rory insists.
Rory fidgets with her keys then and looks down at her porch steps, away from Dean's gaze. She was getting that guilty, nauseous feeling in her stomach again. It had been coming around a lot lately, and it usually had something to do with Jess.
Dean sighs and leans down to kiss Rory on the lips. She smiles into the kiss and tries to maintain it as she pulls away.
"Alright, well, just call me when you're leaving, okay? Maybe we can talk in the car," Dean says with a shrug, sighing.
Rory nods, looking at Dean curiously. He looks something akin to defeated, and it hurts her that she put that there. She reaches up to grab his face and gives him a forceful kiss, pulling him in closer to her. He reciprocates for a few seconds before he pulls away, smiling.
"Call me," Dean repeats.
Rory smiles at him. Little things like this really made her remember why she dated Dean. He was so understanding so much of the time.
Rory steps away from her boyfriend, giving a small wave, and gets into the jeep. She rolls down the window and Dean walks over, leaning in to give her another quick peck.
"Bye," Rory says with another wave.
Dean smiles and steps away as Rory rolls the window back up. She starts the ignition and begins backing out of the driveway, noticing Dean waving back.
Rory sighs as she turns down the block. Dean was such a good boyfriend. He was sweet and kind, and he was always concerned with her wellbeing. Her thoughts immediately turn to Jess. Tears well up in Rory's eyes and she pulls off to the side of the road, waiting for them to spill over.
She hated this.
"Lorelai," Michel drolls, pushing through the door to the kitchen.
"Yes, Michel," Lorelai responds lightly, taking a sip of her coffee. Sookie smiles and continues whisking a batch of egg yolks.
"The tall boy who tramps around after your daughter like a poodle is here."
"Dean is here?" Lorelai asks, exchanging a quizzical look with Sookie. Sookie shrugs and Lorelai puts down her coffee, walking past Michel to the lobby.
Dean is sitting awkwardly on one of the love seats, looking around as the workers come and go. Lorelai smiles and steps past the desk. He sees her and stands, looking apologetic.
"Hey Lorelai."
"Hey Dean. Not that you're not welcome here, but shouldn't you be in school?" Lorelai asks, gesturing for the two of them to sit.
"Thanks," he says to the seat. "Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you," Dean adds, looking down at his hands.
Lorelai places her hands on her lap and furrows her eyebrows.
"Somethin' the matter, hon?"
Lorelai watches as the young boy mulls something over in his head. He turns to face her more fully, and she sees how sad he looks.
"Please don't tell Rory I came," Dean asks softly.
Oh boy, she thinks to herself.
"Okay," Lorelai smiles, bracing herself. Dean didn't often seek her advice with things, but when he did, it usually involved her daughter. But he'd never asked her to keep it a secret from Rory. Something was up.
"Um, I don't know how to ask this. I feel so stupid," Dean scoffs, avoiding her eye contact.
"Dean," Lorelai prods sympathetically, touching her hand to his shoulder gently.
"Has Rory…"
"Has Rory…?"
"Mentioned anyone? Lately?" He asks, looking up at her with a strange look.
"Can you be more specific, hon? Rory mentions people every day," Lorelai points out, offering a small smile that Dean doesn't return.
"A boy-anyone?"
"A boy-anyone, huh?"
Lorelai sucks in her breath. It suddenly felt like she was in a vacuum. Wow, what a loaded question.
"Dean, what's this about?"
"I know Rory would never do anything to hurt me," Dean insists, holding his hands up in mock defense. "But lately I just feel like, like I don't know, like I'm losing her."
Lorelai pauses for a beat. She really didn't know what to say to Dean. Rory hadn't mentioned Jess at all, so aside from the random hug she knew about, Lorelai could neither confirm or deny any feelings. Rory seemed to feel strongly that she loved Dean.
"Sometimes I think it feels like we're losing somebody because they have less time to give us," Lorelai offers, touching Dean's shoulder again to get him to look at her. "You know Rory. She's studious and brilliant and so focused on her schoolwork that sometimes she gets tunnel vision."
"I know all of this," Dean nods, "but I guess I just. She doesn't really answer my pages anymore. And she forgets to call. And tonight, she made such a big deal out of not wanting me to go get her."
"From her group?"
"Yeah. I just didn't see the big deal and she gave me a list of reasons why I should buzz off," he says sadly, looking down at his feet.
"Aw, Dean," Lorelai sighs, trying to catch the boy's eye. "It's okay to have separate things, you know? It doesn't mean you're falling away from each other. She probably just doesn't want to get comments from the guys about having a boyfriend."
Dean's head snaps up. "What guys?"
"The guys from her anger management group?" Lorelai's tone is almost a question, uncertain as to what hole she was digging herself into.
"There are guys in that group?" Dean questions, turning to face Lorelai.
A mild sense of guilt and panic set over the older Gilmore. It has become apparent to her that she is both telling Dean something that Rory should have and that Rory seemingly did not want him to know about it.
"Oh, just a couple, but you know how boys are. My kid isn't ugly, after all," Lorelai backpedals, trying to throw out a sincere laugh. Dean gives her a look. "Okay, bad reminder, but hey, don't get worried about that, Dean, okay? It's not a big deal."
Lorelai can see the wheels turning in Dean's head as his eyes look frantically around. Feeling like she just committed a deep betrayal, Lorelai reaches over to Dean's arm, trying to bring him back out of his thoughts.
"How often do you page or call, Dean?" Lorelai asks, raising an eyebrow.
Dean pauses and looks a little embarrassed.
"I don't know. Probably too much. Probably not enough if she isn't telling me there are guys in the group."
"Dean, do you tell Rory every time you ring up a girl at Doose's, or every time you're in a group project with a bunch of girls?"
"No, but—"
"Then trust Rory. She probably doesn't mean it the way you're taking it. You're a great guy, and Rory knows that," Lorelai says firmly, leaning back on the couch. Dean sucks in a deep breath and blows it out, nodding.
"Yeah. You're right," he admits, running his hand along the back of his head.
"And Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe you should let up a bit?" Lorelai offers. "If you feel like you're losing Rory, which I assure you that you're not, but if you feel like you are, maybe you should give her some space."
"Let up? Like don't call? Don't ask her to hang out?"
"I'm not saying that, but maybe… page her less and let her miss you?" Lorelai shrugs. "Maybe she'll want to tell you all about group and everything if she has the chance to breathe."
Dean looks down. He seems to consider what Lorelai says and smiles sadly.
"Okay. I'll try. And… she really hasn't mentioned anyone?"
Jess flashes into Lorelai's mind for the second time, and she shakes her head in annoyance. Over her dead body.
"No, she really hasn't. In fact we were just talking about you the other day."
Dean smiles and stands up. Lorelai takes her cue to do the same, and clasps her hands behind her back so that the young man before her can't see them fidgeting.
"Thanks Lorelai. And please d—"
"My lips are sealed," Lorelai insists, smiling. Dean returns the smile, gives a small wave, and turns to leave.
"Bye Dean," Lorelai returns, waving. She watches him walk away and sighs, smoothing out her blouse.
Aw, kid. You gotta talk to your boyfriend, Lorelai thinks to her daughter, sighing before turning to go back to the kitchen.
Jess leans back in the seat, crossing his arms. Group seemed to be dragging on forever.
He glances over at Rory, who seems completely enthralled by Adam's story. Jess raises an eyebrow, a smile playing at his lips. Only somebody like Rory could find a tale about lava lamps and not throwing them at people climactic.
"And how did you feel when you chose to just sit there, Adam?" Ms. Leon prods, leaning forward. Rory seems to lean forward too, picking up cues from the social worker.
"It felt good, you know? Any other time, I would have picked it up and chucked it at him," Adam says, nodding.
Ms. Leon smiles and Rory smiles, too. Jess wonders if it's genuine or if she's been spending too much time with Ms. Leon. He catches Rory's eye just then and her smile widens before she looks down at her notepad. Jess smirks in return before he sees Ms. Leon staring at him.
"So, Jess," she begins, looking at him expectantly. He bites his tongue to avoid rolling his eyes, and opts to raise both of his eyebrows, indicating his acknowledgment.
"You've been awfully quiet today," Ms. Leon prods.
"Just not feeling awfully chatty," he deadpans, giving her a sincerely bored look. When did he ever talk in group?
"Well it's been awhile since we've seen you. Tell us something that's happened that you feel good about."
Jess steals a quick glance at Rory, who is fidgeting with her pencil. She leans an elbow against her face, almost as though she were hiding from his gaze.
"Nothing to report."
Rory looks a little more rigid.
"Nothing good has happened? Nothing you feel you handled well?"
Why wouldn't she look at him? What could she possibly be afraid he'd say?
"Well, I told a new neighbor she was probably sleeping with my uncle," Jess offers, his eyes on Rory.
"And what about that, to you, is progress?" Ms. Leon asks curiously. Jess looks at her now.
"Nothing. I think I handled that poorly."
"Okay. That's a great sense of self awareness, but why mention it? Did you handle something well as a result of that interaction?"
"I've been nice to her daughter. I think that counts for something," Jess says pointedly, giving Ms. Leon a look.
A small snap happens on the left of Ms. Leon. Nobody seems to notice but Jess, who stares at Rory's broken pencil point.
Ms. Leon doesn't seem to notice or connect the dots that Jess has laid for her... or perhaps she does and doesn't wish to comment. Ms. Leon just smiles and sighs.
"That is a step forward, Jess. Trying to make amends in a way that's natural to you. Congratulations."
Jess steals glances at Rory for the rest of the group, but she never returns his gaze. Rory goes through the motion of nodding to the group stories and taking notes, but Jess knows 'distracted' when he sees it.
Samuel's session goes by quickly, but that's partially because Rory doesn't listen the whole time. Samuel was less engaging than Jess, though he talked significantly more. That, and she was still mad that Jess had brought her up in group.
Rory walks out of the building and heads straight for the parking lot. Some of the boys with Tuesday night sessions watch her storm off, she can tell, but she isn't in the mood to worry about it.
She finds Jess leaning against her mother's jeep, making a note in a book. Rory pauses for a second, taking in the scene. It looks like something out of a movie; the parking lot light casting an attractive shadow across his body, the leather jacket framing his shoulders, book in hand.
Wow, Rory breathes to herself. She shakes her head clear, remembering that she's mad at him, and continues to head straight for him.
Once she steps onto the gravel his head perks up and he lowers the book from his eyes. Something changes in his face when he sees her, and Rory notices that his body shifts to a more defensive stance.
"Jess!" She hisses, stomping up to him.
"Who pissed in your Cheerios?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.
"You did! Why did you bring me up in group?" Rory demands, crossing her arms.
Rory watches as Jess tilts his head to the right, looking past her. She turns her head to see the few guys left staring at them. Rory feels a hand in between her shoulder blades pushing her forward.
"C'mon, if you're gonna yell at me, let's do it in the car," Jess tells her lightly, guiding her to the vehicle. Rory shrugs off his hand and huffs, walking over and jamming the key into the driver's side.
She reaches over to unlock the passenger side and Jess opens the door, sliding into the seat next to her.
There's a shared silence between them.
Rory'd never had another guy in the car with her. She'd never even driven with Dean except for the time he built her the car. Something felt right about having Jess sitting next to her, waiting for her to tell him what was going on.
The guilt settles in and motivates Rory to put her key in the ignition. She can feel Jess looking at her curiously, but she ignores it and peels out of the parking lot. The last thing Rory needed was to give the group something to gossip about. They'd already seen her and Jess speaking, but they did every week. What they didn't see was the two sharing a car ride.
Rory turns down the road toward where Jess used to get his bus. She makes a left and, once out of the sight of the Intrepid Center, makes an immediate right away from the bus stop.
A dozen thoughts are running through her head, and the thoughts are surpassed only by the amount of emotions she's feeling. She was excited to be with Jess… but she felt guilty at having told Dean he couldn't get her, essentially choosing another boy over her boyfriend. She was mad that Jess had mentioned her… but she was also happy that he acknowledged her in a positive way.
Rory pulls into the first parking lot of a food establishment that she can find and parks. She places her arms against the steering wheel and rests her head against them.
"So, we're still eating?" Jess asks lightly, throwing a thumb towards the diner Rory had absently pulled into.
"Jess, don't make a joke," Rory grumbles, side eyeing him. She had too much going on in her head.
"Okay, you make one."
"Jess!"
"What, Rory?" Jess counters, turning to face her in the seat. They exchange a heated glare.
"You come out all bent out of shape like I'm supposed to read your mind or something," he continues, waving his hand around in annoyance. "And then you just peel out've there like a bat out've hell without saying a word. So sorry for trying to lighten whatever mood I apparently am being blamed for."
"You brought me up in group," Rory growls, crossing her arms. He couldn't be so dense as to why she was upset. The whole conversation with Ms. Leon had felt too pointed for it to be a coincidence.
"Okay."
"Okay! And don't you think it would have made me uncomfortable?"
"Don't remember using your name or your mom's name when I said something."
".. You didn't, but—"
"And correct me if I'm wrong, but the other night when you called me, you said that Ms. Leon knew we lived in the same town."
Rory feels herself getting frustrated. "Yes, I did."
"So I don't see the problem," Jess says nonchalantly. "Even if she figures it was you, nobody else would."
"The problem is you knew it would bother me," Rory fumes.
"Did I? I didn't realize I was clairvoyant," he scoffs back, leaning against the door.
"Jess, don't act like you know nothing about me! You know me freakishly well," Rory explodes.
She looks at Jess in surprise at her own admission. Jess looks surprised as well, but Rory sees other things under the surface. Happiness. Curiosity. Annoyance. Smugness. And something else she can't read.
Jess sighs and runs his hand through his hair. His mouth twitches with words he won't say. Even in her explosion, Rory wants to hear them.
"I'm sorry you're upset," Jess says softly to the windshield.
Rory doesn't really consider that an apology, but she knows she won't get much else. She nods.
"Thank you."
"Why are you really upset?" Jess asks then, turning to glance at her. She feels caught by his gaze.
"What do you mean?" Rory asks, confused.
"I mean, you said I know you freakishly well, right?"
Rory doesn't respond, so he continues.
"So then I know that you're not really upset at being brought up. I think you're bothered that I said I'm nice to you."
"T-That's not…" Rory trails off, biting her lip. Was there truth to that?
"It's not what? True? It means you have to deal with the fact that you have a boyfriend and another guy is thinking and talking about you, and you don't wanna be that girl," Jess finishes by pursing his lips.
Rory looks at her lap, soaking it in. He might have a point. If anyone else had brought up being nice to her, she wouldn't have bat an eyelash. But once Jess had spoken the words, guilt had began to gnaw at her stomach yet again. Rory realizes that he's forcing her to admit something that she isn't ready to deal with. She looks at Jess, who locks eyes with her.
She realizes that he was admitting something, too, in his own way. If Jess was intentionally bringing her up, it was to get a reaction out of her, to test her. She would be mad at that if it didn't make her feel borderline giddy that he'd essentially admitted to her being important to him, that he thought about her. Her being "that girl" indicated a level of feelings between the two of them that he was asking her to acknowledge like he was.
Rory's pager goes off, and she breaks the staring contest with her knees. She feels another wave of guilt at the sight of Dean's name.
"Let's go," Jess says finally.
Rory looks up at him. He looks mildly disappointed, and she feels bad once she realizes she'd never actually responded to what he'd said. She wonders if he knows Dean is the one who paged her.
Rory nods. "You're not hungry?"
A smirk plays on Jess's lips, something that Rory has grown to adore.
"I could eat."
"Okay. We can grab something on the way home. Wait, Jess, your car?" Rory asks suddenly, realizing she had left the parking lot before asking how Jess had gotten to group.
"Took the bus," Jess says simply. "Remember? Carpooling?"
"Duh, right," Rory admits, frowning. It wouldn't have made sense for both of them to drive if they'd had dinner plans.
"Well. Let's get something on the way home," Rory finishes with a small smile, turning the key in the ignition.
Jess watches as Rory talks animatedly about a book she's reading as they search for somewhere with a drive-thru. He smiles and thinks about their conversation. Her silence had said a lot to him earlier, even if he would have preferred her to admit what he had. She didn't deny feelings for him, and that wasn't nothing.
"You're crazy," Jess laughs from the passenger side.
"I am not! Nobody could talk about imagery in such a profound way as Golding," Rory defends, laughing herself.
The pair had stopped at a McQuickie Burger on the way home because they couldn't get over the name. Rory had even grabbed napkins to show her mom.
Rory and Jess had been talking about books and writers almost non-stop once they had gotten over the hurdle of the Awkward Conversation. Rory had been loving every minute of it, and the hour they were supposed to spend out together had turned into almost two.
"In such a profoundly boring way, you mean," Jess corrects, as Rory pulls down the road by Luke's. "He spends six pages talking about a bush and shrubbery. If you cut out all the times he goes on a tangent about a leaf, you'd have half of the book left and an actual story to read."
Rory giggles and rolls her eyes, slowing the car to a stop. "I think you're being harsh. It really added character to the story. I felt like I was on the island."
Jess laughs and Rory turns to see him smiling at her. It's such a soft smile that goosebumps find their way up and down her arms.
"This is me," Jess says, breaking the stare.
"Right," Rory nods, biting her lip. She didn't want their night to end.
"You know, you could've gone home," Jess says matter-of-factly, nodding his head back the way they'd come. "I'm a big boy. I could've walked myself back."
Rory sucks in her cheek. She would be lying if she ever suggested she hadn't considered it. She and Jess were friends, but she didn't want to deal with any gossip. The last thing she needed was for Babette to see them talking and go throughout the town. Jess had been there for a week, and she still hadn't told Dean they knew each other.
"I know, but it didn't make sense to make you do that when I can just drop you off," Rory defends, shrugging as nonchalantly as she could. "You're still new here, after all."
Jess raises a single eyebrow at her. Rory fears he's going to call her out again but instead he shrugs, opening the car door.
"Okay," he says simply. He lets the door slam slightly, jarring Rory a little bit. That was weird. No goodbye?
Almost as if on cue, Jess walks around to her side of the jeep. Rory's heart beats loudly in her chest as she watches him cross the car. What was he doing? Why was he coming over to her side? Why was—
He taps on the car door, not the window. Rory cocks her head to the side in confusion before realizing he wants her to step outside. She inhales deeply and opens the door, watching as he backs up.
"Jess?" Rory asks uncertainly. His name is a question of intent, not just another word on her tongue. She wants to know what he's thinking.
Rory looks down for a minute to step out of the jeep and flushes when she looks back up. Jess has gotten dangerously close to her, and that familiar static that rises whenever they're near each other threatens to immobilize her.
"What would you do if I kissed you right now?" He asks softly, searching her eyes.
Rory takes one of the deepest breaths ever, but she still feels like she hasn't gotten enough air. This wasn't happening. Just a few days ago, she'd had so much resolve that nothing would ever happen with Jess again. But now, with him so close… her instincts were taking over, and her brain wasn't working so well.
"I-if you kissed me?" She stutters, feeling dizzy. Rory was beginning to panic, she realizes. Because she wasn't backing away and she wasn't telling Jess to go to hell — both things that Rory should be doing as Dean's girlfriend.
Jess reaches out a hand. He gently brushes Rory's hair out of her eyes, tucks it behind her ear, and brings his hand down to cup her face in one smooth motion. Rory looks up at him as his thumb lightly caresses her cheek, searching his deep brown eyes.
Before the static between them explodes, a pair of foot steps breaks the moment. Jess drops his hand instinctively and looks behind him, squinting.
Rory turns as the two of them watch a tall figure step under the shine of the street light. Jess holds back a laugh as reality settles in and slaps him in the face.
"D-Dean?" Rory sputters, a look of panic coming over her face.
AN: Cliffhanger! :)
