A/N: Here we are at the end of the story. Yes, I know it probably feels abrupt, but I followed the film, and this is just how it goes! :) Thanks to everyone who has left a review on any or all chapters of this fic – it means a lot! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 14

"So, in the end, I told him, 'Hey, just because you have been here longer than me does not mean that you know everything! I graduated Yale, I am not stupid!' and then, he asked me what year I graduated and it turns out he was only a year ahead of me. Next thing you know, we're talking about professors we loved and hated, and singing the fight song. It was kind of ridiculous, but hey, I made a friend out of a potential enemy at work, so I count that as a win."

Rory was very aware that she was rambling, but she couldn't seem to help it. When Jess called and asked if she had any free time today, she meant to tell him no. After all, later on that very same day, they were due to meet again, in Washington Square Park, where CoffeeGirl84 and NYC360 would finally came face to face for what ought to be the first time.

Of course, Jess had no idea yet that it was Rory he would see at four o'clock this afternoon. He just wanted to grab a coffee with a friend if she had the time. She had been powerless to do anything but accept.

"It's good that you're getting along so well at the Times," said Jess then, smiling that same smile that never failed to make Rory's stomach flip over in the best way. "You know, you're obviously a lot happier there than you ever were at the other place."

"Thank you. I feel happier," she agreed, not bothering to make a point of the fact he refused to say 'Huntzbergers'.

She was comfortable with not mentioning that name either. It was a part of her past, both in terms of her old job and her ex. She had no wish to dwell on either thing, most especially when she was with Jess.

"Um, and how about you? You get passed your writer's block yet?"

"More or less," Jess told her, taking a sip from his coffee cup. "In the end, I just skipped over the part that wasn't working and moved on to the next. Sometimes, it's the only way. I figure, I'll get it all joined up in the editing process."

"Well, if you ever want any help with that... Not that I expect you to need my help," Rory told him, her hand over her chest in dramatic fashion. "I really wasn't implying that I know more about editing than you do. I mean, it was your line of business..."

"You know about editing too," he reminded her, as if she didn't know. "Come on, all that time you spent editing the Yale Daily News, plus you worked in books, just the same as I did, and now you're writing articles for the Times. Trust me, if I ever needed a second pair of eyes for my manuscript, I can't think of better than yours."

He actually met her gaze when he said it, and for a second, Rory thought he was paying a very different compliment altogether. Maybe he was. Maybe he was just playing around - she could never be sure and she never did dare to ask. Maybe she was just imagining things because she knew that in a few hours she was going to reveal the truth of who she was to him. Rory knew that last one was the most likely to be true.

"What?" he asked then, alerting her to the fact she was probably staring at him with a really weird look on her face.

Rory literally shook it off and told him it was nothing. "Ignore me, I'm just... I don't know what's wrong with me today, I'm so unfocused."

"Huh. Must be the theme of the day," said Jess, shaking his head as he stared down into his drink.

Before she could ask what he meant by that, he spoke again.

"Remember I told you about the woman I talk to online?"

Rory almost choked on the mouthful of coffee she just took, but managed to recover without any real incident. "Sure, I remember."

Jess heaved a sigh, pushed his coffee cup away, even though he wasn't done. "She wants to meet again. Not that we met the last time, but she suggested it and we arranged it..."

"And she never showed," Rory finished for him, hoping she didn't look as guilty or as awkward as she felt, because that really would take some explaining.

"Right. Well, this time she promised she would be there," Jess told her, "so I said yes, but now..."

"You don't know if you want to go?" she tried, feeling sick and hoping that didn't show either - Rory had a feeling it probably did, but Jess was looking anywhere but at her so far, so it really couldn't matter.

"No, I definitely do want to go and meet her, it's just..."

That was when he looked up, meeting her gaze one more time. At that point, Rory couldn't have finished his sentence for him if her very life depended on it. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to stick her to the spot and pierce her very soul. For a moment, she was sure he knew the truth, that he was going to tell her he figured it out and ask her why she waited so long to tell him. She was holding her breath, waiting for the hammer to fall, when suddenly he looked away, shaking his head.

"Forget it. Ignore me," he told her, literally waving away the concern that must have shown on her face even then. "Change the subject. I'm serious, talk to me about anything else," he insisted, when she failed to do so.

"Oh, um, okay. So, I think I might finally have found an apartment I can afford. It's actually in the same building as my friend, Paris, who I've been staying with, which is practically a miracle..."

She went on to talk, probably too much, about how she had come to find the place, two floors down from her friend's apartment and about a quarter of the size, but at least she could afford the rent and she would be within easy reach of a friend at all times. Rory didn't hate that. As she told Jess, very sincerely, her friends meant an awful lot to her. She hoped he knew that included him. The smile on his face suggested that he did, but he never said anything definite.

From there, conversation moved on from one subject to the other quite naturally, even as he was walking her back to her building, the way a gentleman would after a real date. Not that Rory would let herself think of this meeting as anything romantic, but it was still special. She was patently aware that this might be the last time they were so comfortable with each other. It may even be the final time he agreed to meet with her. This afternoon, he would find out that she and his online friend were the same person. It was make or break time in T minus ninety minutes.

Rory turned to face Jess on the stoop outside her building, deciding to throw caution to the wind, since she had nothing much left to lose.

"Jess?"

"What?" he asked when she said no more, searching her face for something she wasn't sure if she wanted him to find or not.

"Do you ever... do you ever wonder what could have happened with us? I mean, that first day we met at Truncheon, it was... we were..." she trailed off, suddenly finding that for all the books she had read, all the articles she had written, all the words she knew, they were abandoning her horribly now. "I just mean, if I hadn't worked for the big book store that put your little book store out of business, then we just would've been two people who met. Two people who like the same books and music and movies. Who like each other..."

"Rory, don't," he told her, looking away. "Please, don't."

She knew why he was saying it. He didn't want her to throw herself at him, to tempt him to make a choice that would seem like the wrong one from his perspective. After all, this afternoon, he got to meet his dream girl, the one he had been wanting to know for months now. Nobody else could measure up to the picture in his head, not even the reality of the woman herself, Rory was sure.

"So, you should go," she said, sniffing hard, determined she was absolutely not going to cry and make him feel guilty for not understanding something she hadn't even explained properly. "You have someplace to be, someone waiting for you."

For what it was worth, he looked like he wasn't so sure he wanted to go. Like he wished he could say something to make her feel better. Unfortunately, Rory already knew there was nothing. It was why she muttered a quick 'Bye, Jess', turned away, and bolted up the stairs into the building, before another word could be spoken.

He was a fool. It wasn't the first time that day Jess had thought so, but he was so very sure about it now. Only a real idiot would be putting himself through this again, showing up to a meeting with a person who had stood him up the last time and could well do it again. Yet, here he was, with something akin to hope in his heart, for all the good that ever did him.

Standing up from the bench, he paced a little, looking around as if she might be there already. If she was going to show, it would be another five minutes at least, according to his watch. With a sigh he sat back down, distracted for a second or two by some kids tossing a Frisbee around across the way. Last time he had been there, he had born witness to a similar scene. That was on the other side of the park and he had been with Rory.

Thinking of her didn't do Jess any good. In fact, it only brought home to him all over again what a fool he really was. She was an amazing person, he knew that, and this afternoon, she had obviously been implying that she had feelings for him. As if he didn't know there was something between them. There had been from the very first time they met, though he would have liked to deny it.

It wasn't about her old job, or her ex, or what happened to Truncheon, not anymore, if it ever was. It was just that he had somebody else that he felt committed to, even if they had never actually met. Even if she didn't show up for the second time. Even if...

His watch beeped, signalling the hour. Four o'clock. Standing up from the bench once more, he cast his eyes left and right. Most of the people had been there before. The kids playing, the family picnicking, a couple on another bench that hadn't come up for air the whole time he had been there, a businessman type on the phone. Same old, same old. No special someone for Jess. He wasn't sure why he was surprised.

Then suddenly the crunch of gravel under high-heeled shoes, and in the corner of his eye, a book cover that flashed in the light. He saw it in the hand of a woman, Howl by Allen Ginsberg, and his gaze travelled up her arm to her face. A face he recognised.

Jess felt his eyes widen so much, they should've rolled right out of his head like a cartoon. He had no words, not a one, as Rory Gilmore walked right up to him, her own eyes glassy with tears as she faced him head on, looking nervous as hell.

"Jess?" she prompted when he gave her nothing but silence. "Please, say something," she urged him. "A sentence, even a short one."

He would have loved to help her out, but he seriously had nothing. Too many emotions were doing battle inside him, too much pressure was building up, and he didn't know what to do with it, except one thing that he had waited far too long to try.

Taking Rory's face in his hands, he drew her closer and placed his lips on hers, kissing her like he had wanted to from the first moment he saw her, from longer ago, before he knew her face and only a name on a screen.

"Okay, better than words," she said breathlessly, blinking across at him, when they finally parted, their arms around each other yet. "So, you don't hate me?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked, almost laughing at what he considered to be the most insane question. "Rory, I have spent the past few weeks trying to choose between two women that I..." he stopped, sure that would be a leap too far after everything else. "And now I don't have to choose," he told her instead, smiling so wide it hurt and he still didn't care. "You have no idea how much I wanted it to be you," he admitted softly, stealing one more kiss.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that," she whispered back, pushing herself further into his embrace, kissing him once, twice, three times, until the world faded to nothing around them, and all that mattered was each other, always.

The End