A/N: To those of you who were upset with the turns the last chapter took, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I did not expect such a reaction from it, and it certainly wasn't my intention to frustrate you or, god forbid, make you walk away from my story. I'm trying to create a realistic impression of how a relationship develops when the parties involved share lots of hurt and drama; I mean come on, they dragged out the Luke and Lorelai thing for seven seasons, there's no way it wouldn't take forever for Jess and Rory to get back together. Anyhow, I do hope you continue to stick with this story as I value your feedback greatly. Hopefully the coming chapters will make up for the previous one. Much love!

Eight and a Half

By Imagine Backstory

Chapter Twenty – Unfinished Business & Strawberry Fields

Rory

"Rory?"

"Jess? It's two in the morning."

"Is it?"

"Yes, Jess. What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was so late."

I huffed impatiently. "It's fine. What's up?"

"I'm really sorry, Rory. I probably woke you up."

I recognized the telltale slur of his words and sat up in bed, running a hand through my knotted hair. "Are you drunk, Jess?"

A slight pause. "No. Maybe. Yeah, kinda."

I sighed, loud and long. "What's up?" I asked again, trying to sound gentle. As much as it gave me a thrill to get a phone call from Jess, I was never one to appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night by a drunk person.

"I couldn't go through with it, Rory," he said pleadingly. "I didn't and I couldn't."

"Go through with what?"

There was a long pause during which I could hear him breathing heavily. I balled my sheets in my hands, trying to ignore the big empty space in the bed next to me where James would have been. Outside the city raged on, but it still seemed quiet in my apartment. I waited patiently for Jess to collect his mismatched thoughts. Then, his voice came over the line, soft and low. "I almost slept with someone tonight." His voice caught. "But I didn't, Rory. I couldn't."

I bit my lip, unsure how to take this news. On the one hand, it wasn't like we were exclusive. We weren't sure what we were. But I still felt a little stung. Just this morning he had been begging me to be with him, to want to be with him. It was confusing and way too much for two in the morning. I sighed. "I don't know what to say."

"I didn't do it because I love you, Rory." His voice was firm. Sure. Certain. He really believed himself.

My eyes went wide. "Jess...?"

"Meaningless sex may be the way I've handled some things in the past, but I'm not doing that now. I'm going to wait for you. Even if you get married. I will wait for you."

I was shaking. I drew my blankets around my shoulders, but I knew it wasn't from cold. I felt a tingly sensation all over my body. "I seriously doubt I'm getting married," was all I could manage.

"That's not what James seems to think."

I straightened, frowning. "What?"

"He told me I am officially uninvited to your wedding, so I'm assuming it's still on."

My stomach plummeted. "When did he say that?"

"Tonight," Jess said. "After he punched me three times."

"Oh my god." I jumped out of bed and reached for my jeans and a sweater. "He hit you?"

"Got the bruises to prove it," he muttered. "And maybe a cracked rib or two from when he threw me onto the sidewalk."

"Christ almighty," I spat, balancing my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I dressed. "I'm coming over. Are you okay?"

"Don't come over," he insisted. "It's not a good idea, Rory. I'm still at Truncheon, and there's lots of people here,and I'm still drunk. I'm fine, just banged up. I'll live."

I stood in the middle of my apartment seething, one sock on and one dangling limp in my hand. Warring with myself about what I should do, I barely heard the key turning in the lock before the door was being pushed open. "Jess, I have to go," I said into my phone before ending the call and tossing it onto my bed.

James froze in the doorway, having caught the end of my conversation. He didn't look angry; in fact, I couldn't quite place the look on his face. Hurt? Sadness? Guilt? I felt rage boil up in me as my fists clenched. "You hit him?" I demanded, facing off with him from across the room. "You hit Jess?"

"I didn't plan on it," James pleaded, shutting the door softly behind him. "I mean it. I was just walking around and I was upset and I wanted to just talk to the guy, set things straight. Tell him to back off, all the like. But when he opened the door..." James sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. "It drove me crazy. He was drunk and he had this fucking smug grin on his face and he was being all cocky...I couldn't help it, Rory, I was so angry, I just snapped. But I don't even feel bad about it, really, considering what he did to me."

As pissed as I was, I believed James. I knew Jess had the capacity to push guys to their limit, especially in a territorial situation. I'd seen it countless times with Dean, and even with Logan, Jess had challenged him only by raising an eyebrow. I folded my arms over my chest. "I know you're pissed. You have every right to be. But what's going on is between you and me. Leave Jess out of it."

"Leave him out of it?" James said incredulously. "He's the reason we're in this whole mess!"

"Well, it takes two to tango," I snapped.

James gave me a very dark look. "I'd sooner beat the crap out of him than think about your part in all this. It just hurts too goddamn much."

I shook my head and looked at the ground. "I know. I fucked up, okay? I know."

There was a long pause. James got up and went to the kitchen to make some tea. I followed him aimlessly, keeping my arms around myself, and watched as he went through the motions of boiling water, placing a teabag in a mug, my favourite mug, and pouring the water over it.

"You've wrecked my trust, Rory," James said quietly after he'd taken a few sips of his tea. "And I don't know if you can fix it. Even if you promise it will never happen again...I won't believe you." He shook his head, blinking tears out of his eyes. "I'm not stupid, you know. I know. I knew as soon as I heard the fucker's voice over the phone that there was unfinished business between the two of you."

Only when I let out a strangled sob did I realize I was crying. "I'm so sorry."

He sighed. "I know you are."

"It's over, isn't it?" I wailed.

When James looked at me, our eyes were matched in their wetness. As a tear rolled down his cheek, he nodded solemnly. "I just don't know what else to do, love," he said. "It fucking kills me. But I just don't see where we could go from here but down."

My heart sank, but I knew there was no point in arguing. He was right.

He stepped forward, taking me into his arms as I broke down, soaking his shirt with my tears. I felt his sobs wrack through his body and mine, and we just held each-other and cried for a very long time. Finally, after we had both run dry, he pulled away, gently kissing my forehead. "Good-bye, Rory."

"I'm sorry," I said again.

Then he was gone.

Jess

The next day I nursed my hangover by taking a long walk through Central Park. Isabel had been pretty pissed that morning when I told her we couldn't hire Katie on. It would just be too awkward under the circumstances. Even though Katie had been pretty understanding when I'd stopped the action before we took things too far, I couldn't bear to be reminded of the huge mistake I'd almost made when I went to work every day. Still, thank god I'd had that moment of clarity when Katie's fingers had curled around the waistband of my boxers. Suddenly, Rory's face had appeared clear as day before me, and I'd stopped Katie immediately, unable to continue.

It was a brisk and chilly morning in the Park, and I kept my hands in my pockets to prevent them from freezing off. At least the sun was shining. One could certainly see a lot more of the Park now that the trees were bare and bony. It was still beautiful, just in a more barren way.

Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I extracted it and peered down at the incoming text message.

Hungover?

I smiled a keyed a quick message back. Better believe it. But it's a beautiful day.

Her response was almost instantaneous. That it is. Walk?

Already in the park.

Ding. Me too...

My head whipped up, as if by some miracle Rory would happen to be nearby. I shot her a text back. Where?

Strawberry Fields.

Omw. Wait for me.

Always.

I stopped in my tracks, ignoring the people who cursed at me as they'd been walking behind me, and stared at the message. Always. What did that mean? I was never one to scrutinize text messages, but I was incredibly intrigued by this one. Did this mean...? Even after last night? I thought I'd blown it for sure...

I was pretty sure I made it across Centra Park in record time, beelining for Strawberry Fields. There she was, perched on a bench, her nose in a book. I stopped and just looked at her for a moment, reveling in the essence of Rory before me, and suddenly she looked not a day over seventeen when I'd first met her. Book and all, she was a vision in the winter, the soft dusting of snow layering everything around her, her nose and cheeks rosy from the cold. She looked up as I approached her and a smile broke out on her lovely face. "Hey, you."

"Hey yourself," I said, taking a seat beside her. I leaned into her to look at her book. "Good book?"

"Very," she said brightly, holding it up so I could see the cover.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?" She nodded with a giggle. "How many times have you read that thing?"

"Maybe thirteen?" she said with a shrug.

I couldn't help but smile as I took her copy of The Subsect from her and checked the inside cover. There was the inscription I had handwritten all those years ago. Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today – James Dean. "You're such a kiss-ass."

"You should have known I would analyze every square inch of it, Mister shows-up-at-my-grandparents'-house-with-his-very-own-book-and-lets-me-keep-a-copy."

I laughed. "It was dangerous, I suppose. But you know me. I like to live on the edge."

Rory smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. I took her hand in mine, and we sat there like that for awhile, just breathing in the winter air and being in each-other's company. "James and I broke up," Rory said quietly after awhile of silence.

I took a deep breath. "Really?"

"Mhm. It's really over."

"I'm sorry."

She smiled. "No, you're not."

I looked down at her. "I am if it means you're hurting."

She regarded me steadily as we both realized how close our faces were. "I'm hurt that I hurt him. But really, these past few days have just made me realize that James and I weren't supposed to be together. He's a good person, and I did love him. But..." She trailed off, burying her face in my shoudler.

I put my arm around her and pulled her closer. Feeling her shiver, I rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "Wanna get some coffee? Get out of the cold?"

"You know me so well," she mewled as we got up in search of warmth.

We were back at my favourite coffee shop, in the triangular part surrounded by windows, sipping black coffee and reveling in each-other's company. For the first time in a long while, it didn't feel even slightly wrong to be with Rory. I wasn't worried about Nora, or James, or Luke, or Lorelai, or Dean, or Logan, or anything or anyone. We were together, and we were friends if nothing else, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

After a brief lull in the conversation, Rory groaned. "I have to call my mom at some point today," she said. "It's been a few days since we talked and she probably thinks I'm dead."

"Why are you avoiding her?" I asked, knowing all too well Rory only avoided speaking to Lorelai if she had a good reason to.

Rory bit back a smile. "Just with everything that was going on. I don't feel like getting into it with her."

"You have to tell her about you and James," I pointed out, "at least."

"At least," she repeated, her gaze dropping to her coffee. "Jess..."

"Me first," I said, covering her hands with mine. "I need to apologize for yesterday. I asked too much of you too soon. I know you're not one to make impulsive decisions. I shouldn't have pushed, and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," she said quietly. "For being so damn indecisive."

"You don't need to apologize for how you are by nature," I replied, smirking when she playfully whacked me on the arm. Then I got serious. "And I'm sorry about last night, too."

She waved her hand around, dismissing me. "Let's just call that a bad night and not talk about it again, okay?"

I nodded, grateful. "Okay."

"Jess, I..." She took a deep breath and met my eyes, her piercing gaze taking my breath away. "I do want to be with you. It's just, the timing is..."

"Not our strong suit," I finished for her, grinning in spite of myself. I reached out and gently brushed her cheek with my finger. "I understand, Ror. Take as long as you want. I'm not going anywhere, this time. I promise."

She leaned into my touch, her eyes vibrant with life. "Thanks."

"I do love you, Rory."

She bit her lip as a smile curled her lips upwards. "I love you, too, Jess."

Rory grimaced as she finally hung up the phone, and I couldn't help but snicker slightly. "Well, that's over with," I said with a smirk.

She groaned and leaned her head back on the couch. She flicked her wrist out to look at her watch. "There goes two hours. I knew I should have waited."

"Hey, it was my idea," I reminded her gently, pulling her into my side for a cuddle. "And come on. I know you hate hiding things from your mom."

"That's true," she conceded, snuggling into my chest.

We were on the leather couch in the office at Truncheon, which had served as my bed for the past few days. Even though Isabel and I had made up from our fight, I felt uncomfortable to put her and Justin out any longer. I still hadn't heard from Nora about my apartment, so I assumed she was still there. At this point, I wondered if she had been planning on staying there all along.

Rory and I had wandered back to Truncheon after having coffee, and once we had situated ourselves in the office I suspected she got a bit nervous and opted to phone Lorelai instead of wallow in the fact that we were alone and in private for the first time since being respectively single. I got a surprising amount of work done while she was on the phone, feeding off the energy in the room as Rory combated with her mother's rapid-fire questions.

"So she knows that James and I split up. And she knows you and Nora split up. I know she's suspicious but surprisingly she didn't say anything." Rory turned her head to look up at me; the sight made my heart flutter. "Is this real life?" she wondered quietly.

I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing in the scent of her. "I've been asking myself that all day."

She sighed contentedly. "God, I don't want to go to work tomorrow."

"Me neither," I admitted, my heart sinking a little at the realization that we were once again short a bartender. Not to mention it would mean a whole day apart from Rory. Not that we had many any plans, but I had the sneaking suspicion we would be seeing a lot more of each-other in the days to come. I wondered what she would look like padding around the Café in nothing but one of my dress shirts, the morning light filtering through the shut blinds, and I licked my lips at the thought. I knew I was getting ahead of myself—Rory still needed time, and I knew sleeping together was probably still a bit of a long shot. But a guy could dream, right?

I was so curious, it hurt.

Keep thinking what you're thinking.

Ah, the sweet torture that was Rory Gilmore. She was at once sweet and seductive, her playful nature offset by the bedroom eyes she so often unknowingly swung my way. In fact, she was giving me that look now.

Unable to resist, I slanted my mouth over hers, kissing her softly and then adding pressure, gently coaxing her to open up to me. She did with a soft moan, a noise which shot straight to my groin. I moved over her, gently leaning her back onto the couch and crawling over her, suspending my weight on my elbows. I was reminded affectionately of all those times we had made out on the couch in Luke's apartment, interrupted periodically by Lorelai or Luke himself in their attempt to keep Rory and me vertical. She had the innate ability to make me feel seventeen again, no matter how old we really were.

I ran my hands up her body, feeling the soft curves of her, as her hands came up to tangle in my hair, pulling me even closer to her. I gently let some of my weight settle on her, gasping as she squirmed against me, and felt my toes curl as she bit down on my bottom lip and tugged. My fingers snuck under the hem of her shirt, feeling the soft skin at her hip. She gasped, giggling. "Your hands are freezing."

Smirking, I ran my hand higher, fingers gently teasing the underwire of her bra. She shivered beneath my touch, her eyes fluttering closed, and she breathed out slowly as I gently reached higher to cup her breast. He dragged my mouth back to hers as I kneaded her, letting our tongues tangle once again.

She shifted slightly under me and I let out an involuntary grunt as she brushed against the hottest part of me. I pulled away from her kiss, our breathing shallow and mingling between us. "We should stop," I whispered, brushing a piece of hair from her face.

She groaned and nuzzled my neck. "Don't wanna."

I chuckled softly, cradling her to me. "I know. Me neither. But we're taking this slow, right? Whatever this is," I added with a smirk.

"Shhh." She snuggled further into me and I was perfectly content to just lie there holding her, feeling her heart pounding in sync with my own. I wanted to pinch myself. Do something to truly drive home that this was real, that I was holding her, that I had her, and I didn't even have to feel guilty about it anymore. It was freeing but also completely strange and uncharted. I hadn't been able to call Rory mine since we were seventeen and eighteen, respectively. And even then, I'd never had a firm grasp on her; I'd pushed her away, as I had everyone I cared about.

This time was different, though. I wasn't eighteen anymore. I wasn't running anymore, unless it was to Rory. We were taking things slow, yes, but it would happen eventually. I could feel it in my bones.

It was only about four o'clock, but I felt Rory drifting off to sleep on my chest, which in turn made me feel sleepy. Closing my eyes, I let myself feel truly happy for the first time in what felt like forever.

Rory

I felt like I was floating when I went to work the next day, despite the range of emotions that were cascading through me at any given moment. Mostly I thought about Jess and the day we had spent together yesterday; the walk in the Park, the steamy make-out session on the couch and the blissful nap afterwards. We had parted in the evening awkwardly and sweetly, with a tender kiss that made my knees buckle, and he'd promised to call me when he was done work today. Occasionally thoughts of James would break in, though I tried to push them aside to deal with when I wasn't feeling so smitten with the dark-eyed boy from my past.

People around the office definitely noticed the difference in me, though nobody could quite figure out what it was exactly. Did I cut my hair? Did I get new make-up? Did I lose weight? Was I pregnant? The last question had thrown me but upon further discussion the consensus was that I was glowing.

I had to admit it freaked me out a little. I did love Jess, and I had told him so, but I couldn't possibly be in love with Jess, could I? After all these years of cat and mouse, and our complicated relationship for the last half-year, and the messy something that we were now.

Still, I wasn't about to let my happiness go to waste. I let it propel me into action, and I ended up tackling many assignments in one day that I had been trying to complete all last week.

As I was finishing up for the day, Tucker stuck his head into my office. "Word around the office is that you're pregnant," he said jokingly as he leaned in the doorway.

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Not pregnant. Just happy."

"What's the occasion, princess?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

I smiled coyly. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Oh, honey, spare me the gory straight details. You know they don't quite rev my engine," he chided with an effeminate flick of his wrist. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about your review for the play reading the other night."

I blinked. I had nearly forgotten about it. "I did hand it in, right?"

"Yes, you did." Tucker took a seat across from me, crossing his right ankle on his left knee. "I gotta say, babe, not your finest work."

I felt a flush creeping up my neck. I cleared my throat. "I had a busy weekend. Sorry. I can rewrite it, if you want."

He waved his hand vaguely. "Not necessary. Honestly, we'll probably just pull it."

I knew my face probably betrayed my disappointment. "Oh."

"It's nothing personal. I mean it was good enough that we definitely could run it. Listen, Rory." He sat forward, leaning on his elbows. "You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately I have some."

My heart sank at the tone in his voice. Whatever he was about to say, it wasn't good. "Yeah?"

Tucker sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Boss wants to pull your column." My mouth fell open but Tucker pressed on before I could say anything. "It's nothing personal, or any issue with your work—you know we all love your work, that's why we hired you—but we never get many responses to the performance review section and frankly, we need the space for other stories."

"But this is New York," I said incredulously. "Theatre is part of this city's culture. How could it not be getting attention?"

"I don't know what to tell you, babe. Now, nothing is certain yet. You still have your column, at least for the next couple of weeks. But beyond that, I just wanted you to be prepared."

"So what then?" I asked, all traces of my previous happiness out the window. "What else could I write?"

Tucker avoided my gaze. "We'll have to look into that."

"So you're saying you might not have another column for me?"

He rubbed his hands together, looking tortured. "I'm sorry, kid. This is killing me."

I was horrified to feel tears burn at the back of my eyes. I hastily wiped at them with my thumb. I didn't say anything, couldn't. Tucker just gave me a sympathetic look and got up to leave. "For what it's worth, I'm rooting for you, Rory. I'm not gonna let you go down without a fight. I'm doing everything I can."

I put my face in my hands as he left my office, knowingly closing my door behind him. Feeling the rising panic in my chest, I pulled out my phone and dialed the only person who could possibly make me feel better right now.

"Hello?"

"Hi." I drew a ragged breath.

"Rory?" His voice was instantly concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm going to get fired, Jess," I mumbled, pressing my palm to my eyes to stop the tears. "What am I going to do?"

"What? Why would they fire you?"

"No one likes my column apparently," I sobbed.

He paused. "I like your column."

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I always read it."

"You do...?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, Rory. I do." Then, "What can I do, Ror?"

I wiped at my eyes, determined to pull myself together. "Nothing, it's okay. Just wanted to hear your voice."

I could practically hear his smile. "Atta girl. There's the trooper Rory I know and love. Seriously, though, are you alright?"

"I will be," I replied. "Sorry to bug you."

"Hey, you can bug me anytime," he laughed. "I'm bored out of my skull here. Which is weird because I'm also busy as fuck."

"Isn't it good to be busy?" I asked.

"Yeah, but not when you're doing three people's jobs. We still haven't found a full-time bartender so I'm doing that most of the time. On top of my usual publishing work and now one of my best god damn editors quit so I have to pick up his slack."

"Jesus," I breathed, taking my hair out of its bun and running a hand through it. "So where I may have a lack of work, you have a surplus."

"Yeah," he chuckled brazenly, "if you do get fired you should just come work here."

I knew he'd only said it in passing, but I froze. "Could I?"

I heard him blanch. "Uh—really?"

"You said you need an editor," I said with a shrug I knew he couldn't see. "I was the editor of the Yale Daily News..."

There was a slight pause. "Let's talk tonight," he said, the familiar lilt coming into his voice so I knew he was smirking. "Over dinner. I'll pick you up at seven."

"My, you know how to charm a girl," I said with a playful roll of my eyes.

"Consider it a business meeting."

I grinned. "I look forward to it."

A/N: Hopefully you guys liked that better than the last one! Please stick with me! I promise that Literati is and always has been end-game!