A/N: This is completely a Literati story. It may not look like it at first, but if you stick with me I promise you that they will end up together. The story timeline starts when Rory is on the campaign trail for Obama's presidency run. She's been on the road for one year, so it's been two years since she last saw Jess. Hope you enjoy and continue with me.

Rory smiled blissfully as she inhaled the aromas in the coffee shop. She hadn't had a good cup of coffee in such a long time. Life on the road was not what she expected but everything she had wanted, minus the terrible coffee part. Rory thanked the barista for her coffee before turning to leave the shop. She let her eyes drift over the patrons waiting in line and the few sitting at tables. She was just about to leave when her eyes landed on the last person she expected to see.

Rory couldn't help how her smile widened. Even with how they left things, she still was happy to see him. She shouldn't go up to him, she knew that. However, Rory also wanted to go up to him. To have a conversation with a friend, hopefully still a friend, and to feel at home. Pushing back all her doubts and worries Rory moved forward. Walking slowly, she came up behind him and spoke. "Hi."

Jess stopped reading and turned around in his seat after he recognized Rory's voice. "How ya doing?"

Rory felt the telltale heat of her blush as she answered, "Good. How about you?"

She watched as Jess smiled at her, hoping he too was remembering a time many years ago. "Good." He looked down to the coffee in her hand before gesturing, "Wanna join me?"

Rory stuffed one of her hands in her jeans pocket before saying, "Yeah, sure." Sliding into the seat across of him, she smiled at him again before sneaking a peek at the book in front of him. Her eyes widened a little as she noticed that it was a textbook. "Do my eyes deceive me or is Jess Mariano actually studying?"

Jess laughed softly as he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, no, your eyes are not deceiving you. Trust me, this is the last thing I want to be doing. Matt got it in his head though that one of us should at least have some type of degree in English. Since he has the Business degree and Chris is working on his Fine Arts, it fell on me. It makes the most sense too, since I am sort of a writer too."

Rory felt her mouth drop open in happy astonishment. "Jess, that's amazing! Where are you going? What are you taking now? Are all your classmates jealous that you're already an accomplished writer? I bet they are. Green with envy."

Jess shock his head, letting another laugh escape. "I don't know how, I keep telling Chris that the admissions must have been high when they went over my application, but I'm actually going to Penn."

Without thinking Rory reached across the table and laid her hand on Jess' arm, squeezing it. "That's so…Wow."

Jess nodded, still having a hard time believing it, even if he was almost finished with his second year. "Yeah, I know. Right now I'm just trying to get through this poetry course. You know I've never really been a big fan of it. Matt kept bugging me though to take it so I could understand his poets better." Jess rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Anyways, I'm just getting ready for the final and hoping I don't ever have to take another poetry course."

Rory laughed softly. "It can't be that terrible. At least it's not Ayn Rand."

Jess leaned back in his chair, moaning playfully. "Thank god. I could not sit through a whole seminar about that woman, let alone a full six weeks." Jess smiled at Rory, before he said, "Enough about me though. What are you doing here?"

Rory tried to hide her smile as she said, "Oh, you know, just on the campaign trail for Senator Obama. Nothing all that great."

Jess' smiled widened, his pride shining in his eyes at her. "I'm looking at the next Christiane Amanpour, aren't I? Should I get your autograph now before you become to famous to remember us lowly people?"

Rory tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, her skin flushing softly. "Stop. I'm nowhere even close to becoming her. But it's amazing and nothing I expected."

Jess finished for her, "But everything you wanted, right?"

Rory's smiled soften, a warm feeling filling her. "Yeah, exactly." She had missed this. This easy banter, easy talking. Rory talked with her mom almost on a daily basis and she always felt homesick afterward, but this was different. It was more than feeling at home. It was a feeling of being safe. Rory realized suddenly that her hand was still resting on Jess' arm. She let her fingers gently rub against his long sleeve, before drawing up the courage to say what was floating in her mind. "Jess…"

Just then though a woman came up behind Jess and ducked down, kissing his cheek softly. "Hey babe, sorry I'm late. Professor Bernstein is just so riveting." The woman just noticed Rory, startlingly slightly. "Oh."

Jess smiled at her before introducing them. "Becca, this is an old friend, Rory. Rory, this is my girlfriend, Becca."

Rory felt a twinge of something in her stomach at his words. She covered her reaction quickly by smiling excitedly, hoping it reached her eyes, as she extended her hand to shake Becca's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Becca smiled back at her. "It's nice to meet you too. Jess has hardly told me anything about his childhood, it's nice to finally meet someone that can tell me some juicy stories."

Jess groaned softly. "Oh geez."

Becca shushed him. "Now, be honest, he was a nerd, wasn't he? He tries to put on this bad boy persona, but the amount of books he reads and his massive knowledge of just everything all points to nerd. Don't lie for him, Rory, it's okay. I'll love him either way." She looked at Jess, smiling as she said, "Maybe even a little bit more."

Rory watched as Jess smiled at his girlfriend and realized that he was in love. He had moved on. She knew she should be happy, and on some level she was happy for him. However, at the moment she just felt sick. She cleared her throat, trying to get the lump in her throat to go away. "Um, no embarrassing stories. Sorry. Jess has always been Jess. I don't know, sorta a mixture of James Dean and Mark Twain. He has an amazing brain, his writing is just…" Looking up she got flustered at the look Jess was giving her. "Anyway, I should actually get going. It was nice running into Jess." Standing up, she hesitated for a second before throwing out a lifeline to reestablish their friendship. Rummaging through her purse for her wallet, Rory pulled out her business card. She quickly wrote on the back of the card before handing it to Jess. "Um, here's my card. It has my email and my cell phone number is on the back. This way another two years won't go by without us catching up."

Jess took it before reaching into his back pocket for his wallet, pulling out his own card. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Rory looked down at the card, seeing Jess' publishing house name along with his email and cell phone number, as well as the business phone number. She chuckled underneath her breath. "I can't believe we just exchanged business cards. We're so grown up." Looking up at Jess, she tucked in a stray piece of hair behind her ear again. "Bye Jess, it was really good to see you again."

Jess stood as Rory pushed her chair back. "Yeah, it was. Bye Rory."

Rory grabbed her cup of coffee before waving at Becca, saying a soft bye to her before taking her leave. She stepped outside, letting the cool air rush over her. Looking back she watched as Jess smiled at his girlfriend. It was the smile he used to only smile at her. Rory smiled sadly, happy that Jess was happy. She whispered to herself, remembering something Jess said the last time she saw him. "It's what it is. You. Me." Just then Jess looked up and out the window at her. He smiled at her and waved. Rory smiled back, waving goodbye with the hand that still held his card. Rory turned around and started to walk toward her hotel, looking down at the card, wondering what she should do next.