A/N: I had the idea for this fic a few weeks ago, standing outside my place of work, freezing my butt off, waiting for someone to come and unlock already. My mind wanders when I'm bored and sometimes fic ideas turn up unexpectedly. I wasn't sure where I was going with the story beyond the first scene then. Now I'm done with my previous Literati WIPs, I can focus on this one, and I think I know where I'm headed with it, so here we go...

(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and any recognisable dialogue from Gilmore Girls belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and other people that aren't me)

Chapter 1

It was freezing cold. Rory had never been all that great about cold weather, in spite of the fact she supposed she should be used to it by now. They had some pretty wicked winters in Connecticut, and she spent a couple of bad ones in other places too, but this particular day in New York felt that much colder than any day ever had before.

Dressing both stylishly and for the weather came pretty naturally to the daughter of Lorelai Gilmore, and Rory didn't think she really could have done any better than her fashionable long coat and complementary hat. Of course, she had expected to go from the hotel to the cab, then the cab to the cafe with very little actual being outdoors. It was all going so well until she got to the cafe door and found it locked, displaying a Closed sign. Through the glass she could see a coffee machine warming up and that only made her feel worse. The wonderful life-giving nectar that was the java would certainly have helped right now. Actually, some feeling in her fingers and toes would be great too.

"So cold," she muttered to herself, rubbing her bare hands together.

She wondered how weird she would look if she shoved her hands into her purse for warmth, not that Rory really thought that would work. She checked her watch then looked back at the cafe. It ought to be open and her interview ought to be here any minute. Rory considered calling the office and checking something hadn't gone wrong, but then thought better of it. After all, it was only five after, and she didn't want to seem too over-zealous.

A guy approached down the sidewalk with a styrofoam cup in his hand that steamed a little. He took a long drink as he got close and then moved towards the trash can three feet away.

"Can I have that?" said Rory aloud, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

The confused man turned slowly to look at her, cup still in his hand. He smirked a little and then came forward, showing her inside the vessel.

"It's empty," he told her simply.

"Oh, I know, I don't..." she began, grabbing the cup from his hands and wrapping her fingers around it. "Residual warmth," she declared happily, shivering all over.

The mystery man smirked as he came to stand beside her. Rory was a little embarrassed about making a show of herself, but honestly, any port in a storm, and it did feel good to get just a little feeling back in her fingers.

"So, the pockets are just for show, huh?" he asked her, shoving his hands into his own coat pockets.

"Oh, yeah," Rory nodded, looking down at the faux-pockets on her coat. "Fashion is great that way."

He nodded in understanding, watching Rory look sad as the cup in her hands grew chillier by the second without any hot liquid to keep it warm. His hands slipped out of his pockets and produced a pair of gloves. He held them out to Rory, offering to exchange them for the empty cup that was doing her no good anymore anyway.

"Oh no, I couldn't..."

"Take them, please," he insisted when she tried to refuse, pulling the cup out of her hands and pushing the gloves into her grasp instead. "Chivalry isn't completely dead yet," he said definitely, throwing away the trash and returning to her side.

Rory smiled widely and pulled on the soft black gloves, glad to have her fingers away from the harsh cold of a New York winter morning.

"Thank you. You are a gentleman."

The stranger smirked; "That's a minority opinion, but you're welcome."

Rory was at least a little intrigued by that comment, but decided she was safe here. There were enough people around that she didn't have to be scared of standing close to a man she didn't know who was by his own admission not quite a gentleman. After all, actions spoke louder than words and he had just done her a favour. Rory now had slightly warmer hands, unfortunately, the rest of her remained pretty darn cold.

"I know I got here early but this is ridiculous!" she complained aloud, turning to peer into the cafe window again.

It was well past eight now and still the door was locked.

"This place is kind of a law unto itself," her companion told her, clearly a regular customer of the establishment. "The owner's a little... free-spirited," he explained with a grin. "Best coffee in the city though, no contest."

"So I'm told," Rory nodded. "I at least thought my interview would be here by now..."

"You're here for an interview?"

"Not for a job or anything," she explained, looking across at where her new friend was leant back against the wall, mid-way to lighting a cigarette. "I'm a reporter."

The lighter came down without completing its task, as the man stared at her.

"Rory Gilmore?" he said around the unlit cigarette still between his lips.

"Yes," she frowned, confused for a moment. "Wait a second, you're not...?"

"Jess Mariano, yeah," he nodded confirmation, removing the smoke from his mouth and offering his free hand for Rory to shake. "I'm sorry I was... I was expecting Rory to be a guy," he admitted.

"Oh, yeah," she giggled girlishly. "I get that sometimes. It's short for Lorelai. I actually always wondered what Jess was short for."

"It's actually Latin," he told her very seriously, before the smirk broke through again. "Means 'my Mom was wasted and/or high the day she named me'."

"Oh. Right," Rory smiled slightly nervously because she wasn't sure whether that was really meant to be a joke or not.

She didn't get a chance to ask or even consider it when suddenly the sound of locks being undone got her attention. Rory and Jess both turned towards the cafe entrance and hurried inside the second the door opened. Rory headed straight for a table and then glanced back to see Jess speaking with the owner, a middle-aged man with a five o'clock shadow already at this early hour, a ponytail, and a collection of piercings all down one ear. Jess called him a free spirit and Rory could certainly see that. She suspected he was also a buddy of Mr Mariano from the way they were laughing together and shared an almost secret handshake before he came to join her at the table.

"So, I ordered two coffees," he said as he slid into the seat opposite Rory. "You do drink coffee, right?"

Rory laughed like a bell, so loud and sudden it actually made Jess jump.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised. "Super unprofessional. It's just, that's probably the craziest question I've ever been asked. You wouldn't understand because you just met me, but asking me if I like coffee, or in fact asking my mother if she likes coffee, it's kind of like asking if Cookie Monster likes cookies."

Jess smirked at the reference.

"Wow. Solid Sesame Street knowledge," he said too seriously.

"You understood, so you must be as well-educated as I am," she countered, as the cafe owner arrived at their table with their coffees.

"On the house," he winked at Rory and then walked away.

"Is that because I'm with you or...?"

"Doubtful," Jess shook his head, sipping his own coffee.

He watched Rory over the rim of his cup as she looked over at Tyler walking away and then shook her head. She didn't believe him. That was weird to Jess. For a young woman as good looking and amusing as she was, it was a little weird to think Rory couldn't understand a guy liking her. Jess was intrigued by that, and ever more so when he watched her pick up her coffee cup and take a long sip. Her eyelids flickered and a genuine moan escaped her throat.

"Oh wow," she gasped after swallowing. "That is... That's the best coffee I've had in months!"

"Apparently," said Jess, clearing his throat.

No woman had ever had quite that reaction to coffee in front of him. It was enough to do things to a man that were severely inappropriate in a public place, especially with a woman he had only just met.

"So, interview," said Rory then, scrambling to get out her recorder and her notebook. "Professional just seems to have gone out of the window this morning, I'm so sorry," she apologised as she prepared herself.

"It's fine," Jess assured her. "Honestly, I'm not sure what a professional interview would look like anyway. I don't do a lot of these things, but the first book took off and the second is doing well... I pretty much got told to just be personable already," he rolled his eyes. "Writing I can do, but as a rule... well, the verbal thing, it comes and goes," he explained.

"Well, I promise to go easy on you to begin with, no tough questions for the first ten minutes," said Rory with a smile. "That sound good?"

"Sure," he nodded once.

As good as her word, Rory started out with the basics. Some things she was already pretty sure she knew from research she had done, the minimal number of previous interviews Jess had taken part in. They coverede where he was from and who his influences were, the usual things. Of course eventually they had to get to the tougher questions, and deeper more involved answers were required.

"I know your new book is the main focus right now, but I'd like to take you back to The Subsect, if I may," said Rory, pulling out a copy of said book from her purse.

Jess was amazed to see it, mostly because it was not one of the mass produced copies, but bore cover art he recognised as one of the very early print runs. Just a few hundred were produced at a small publishing house in Philly, then a few hundred more when those sold well. A bigger, more established publisher went ahead and churned out the thousands that followed, but this little reporter had something rare in her hands.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked curiously, eyeing the book that was dog-eared and terribly creased down the spine.

"Oh, um, from this little book shop in New Haven, Connecticut," she explained. "I went there a lot when I was attending Yale, and I'm always looking for the rare and special. One day I picked up this weird little black book, started reading and couldn't stop," she explained, blushing as she did so and unable to help it. "You have such a unique voice, and the way you told the story was just... I was just lost in the words and the emotion. I actually missed a class, I was so caught up in this book, I forgot to leave the store."

Jess smiled genuinely at that. Rory wasn't just a reporter sent to interview him, she was also a real fan, and not one of those girls that pretended to care about his writing ability because they met him and thought he was hot. Jess knew plenty of women like that, and whilst he would admit to sometimes not really behaving at his best around them, he liked this better. Rory knew writing, she had to if she was the great journalist he assumed her to be, and she spoke in the same kind of terms about his writing that he spoke of other authors. Her eyes sparkled with the thrill of it all and her cheeks took on a pretty pink blush as she explained how his first book, the one he now looked at and winced because he wished he could rewrite it all, was such a favourite of hers.

"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be asking you questions and instead I'm rambling at you like a crazed stalker fan," she apologised.

"It's fine. The rambling is cute," he told her kindly, finishing off his coffee.

Rory cleared her throat and tried to gain some composure. She wasn't great with taking compliments at the best of times, and honestly, this guy made her nervous. Not in a bad way. Actually it was in a really good, tingling all over, don't ever let it stop way, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing for Rory when she had an interview to complete.

"So, The Subsect," she started over, going on to ask Jess about his inspirations for the book, what he was trying to convey with the story and the characters.

After that, they went on to the new book and discussed the finer points of that one. Rory asked all the intelligent questions and seemed to understand any and all references Jess made to other literary works and authors. She even caught his more obscure movie and music references, which he hadn't expected at all. Rory was certainly a singular woman from what he had seen so far. It was quite the surprise to Jess to realise he would like to see more.

"Well, I think that's everything I need," said Rory eventually, clicking off the recorder.

Her eyes wandered to her watch as she downed the last of her third coffee, and ended up almost spitting that final gulp all over the table.

"Oh my God!" she gasped as she noted the time. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea how long we were sitting here."

Jess frowned some and checked his own watch. His eyes widened when he too realised the hour. He and Rory had been sat here conversing for the better part of the morning and he genuinely hadn't even noticed. Any minute now the lunch rush would be starting. That was just crazy.

"I have to go. My boss is going to kill me!" said Rory, hurriedly repacking her bag and throwing her scarf around her neck.

"I'm sorry, it's probably my fault," said Jess, though he couldn't understand how this had happened.

He had told Rory he wasn't much of a talker and he meant it, though the one subject he knew he was pretty able on was books. The two of them had covered every angle of literature this morning, not just speaking in varied terms about his own work and influences. They pitted Rand against Hemingway, raved about the wonder of Ginsberg's Howl, and pulled apart the Russians for good measure. Almost four hours of conversation, and Jess had been so captivated by Rory Gilmore that he couldn't spent another four just the same and probably never have noticed the time passing. That was amazing to him.

"It was very nice meeting you, Mr Mariano," she said politely, sliding out of her seat as he did the same.

"Please, it's just Jess," he told her, shaking the hand she offered him. "Nice meeting you too, Rory," he assured her.

She smiled as she extracted her hand from his grip then and turned to go, calling over her shoulder a thanks for the additional coffees that he had insisted on paying for. Jess raised a hand in some kind of acknowledgement or just goodbye, and then she was gone.

"Don't tell me the great Jess Mariano is falling in love," said Tyler as he appeared at his friends shoulder then.

"Geez, man. You really need to give up the hard stuff," he rolled his eyes as he looked at him.

Still, there was a strange smile on Jess' lips as he returned to his seat and contemplated the two coffee cups across from each other on the table, one that had been his own and one that Rory had drank from. Falling in love would be ridiculous, even if he did know her better. Jess had long since decided he was incapable of such a thing or at the very least that he was never likely to meet a woman in real life that could inspire such emotion in him. Still, whatever had happened this morning with Rory was certainly causing a feeling he had never felt before. What had that reporter done to him?

To Be Continued...

A/N2: So, love it? Hate it? Please let me know your thoughts in a review! :)