A/N: Welcome to the third, and potentially final, Literati Advent Calendar. Brainstorming another 24 mini fics has not been easy (in fact, I'm not quite done writing them all yet...) because I've used up so many ideas already, but hey, nothing lasts forever, and in the meantime, you all have 24 Rory/Jess mini-fics to look forward to between now and 24th December! For more info, please see the 2nd A/N at the end of this first story :)
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and other folks who aren't me.
1. Christmas Coffee Rescue
'Verse: AU, in which Rory & Jess never met before
Timeline: post-series
Date: December 2008
"No, no, no, no, no!"
She reached the coffee shop just as the door closed and the sign was turned around, proving they were not opening again until the next morning. From inside, the one unpleasant member of staff was wearing a self-satisfied smile, seeing Rory miss her last chance for the most delicious coffee in town. That made her all the more mad.
"What happened to the Christmas spirit?!" Rory asked out loud, kicking the wall and huffing out a sigh.
"I'm sure it's alive and kicking somewhere," said a guy on the other side of the closed door. "You really that desperate for coffee?"
"You have no idea." Rory sighed one more time, wrapping her arms around herself against the bitter wind and turning to go.
"Here," said the same guy from behind her.
Rory turned back to find the stranger holding out his own to-go cup in her direction.
"Merry Christmas," he said with a smile that made her stomach flip - he was actually seriously cute now that she really looked at him, but still a stranger, of course.
"It's fine," she assured him, waving away his offer. "I'll just... make coffee at home."
"It won't taste like Marco's," he said definitely.
"You're right, it really won't," Rory admitted, eyeing the steaming cup and practically licking her lips just imagining how good it would taste. "He is a cut above the rest."
"So, take it," the stranger insisted. "I promise I haven't taken a sip. It's in the exact condition as when it was handed to me at the counter and, weirdly, Little Miss Acid Attitude in there actually seems to like me, so at least you know she didn't spit in it."
Rory frowned. "I know this probably sounds lame, and I'm sure you're a nice guy..."
"But I'm a stranger offering you a drink in the middle of the dark New York Street," said the guy, smirking hard. "It's not lame, but also, I'm not a freak, I promise," he told her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card to hand to her.
Rory took it in both hands and read the words aloud. "Jess Mariano, Author and Publisher, Truncheon Books... Wait a second," Rory stopped, looking up at him. "You're Jess Mariano? You wrote The Subsect!"
"You read The Subsect?" he countered. "Huh. Small world."
"The smallest." Rory chuckled. "Wow. Jess Mariano. What are the odds of meeting you like this? Damnit, I wish I had your book with me, I could ask you to sign it."
"You want me to sign the coffee cup?" he checked, smirking still.
"That's not necessary," Rory assured him, though she did take the offered cup this time and drank deep of the contents. "Wow. So, so good. Thank you," she told Jess, "but I should really reimburse you or something-"
"Forget about it," he told her, waving away her concern. "Anything for a fan."
"I said I read your book, I never said I was a fan," she countered, though the smile wouldn't shift from her face when she said it. "Maybe sometime I could buy you a coffee here, you know, when they're actually open? If you have the time."
"Sure, that'd be cool," Jess agreed. "You do realise I don't know your name, right?"
"Oh, it's Rory. Rory Gilmore. The strange girl with the coffee obsession," she explained, rolling her eyes.
"Merry Christmas, Rory Gilmore," he said, turning to walk away.
"Merry Christmas!" she called behind him, just knowing it was going to be somehow.
A/N2: Just a little explanation regarding the different stories that are going to feature in the Advent Calendar. They are all completely independent of each other - a collection of mini one-shots - save for those that belong to The Runaways 'verse (aka Our Little Corner of the World) which are all connected in that way.
Every fic will have info at the top, under the title, regarding what 'verse the story takes place in, be it canon, connected to a story, set in a world I created, etc. and also what year we're in, which ought to help you get your bearings. Every fic will also be tagged with a code on the title, so in the drop down for each 'chapter' they'll be easily identifiable too.
Tags are as follows: ASA = A Society Affair; AtA = Attitude Adjustments; AUM = Alternate Universe Meeting; AU3 = Part 3/3 to an Alternative Universe Meeting from the 2017 Advent Calendar that continued in 2018 and concludes this year; AUC = Alternate Universe-Canon Divergence; BDA = Baby Daddy/Kissing Cousins; CAN = canon; FAH = Fixing A Hole; KID = The Kids 'verse; RUN = The Runaways 'verse/Our Little Corner of the World.
And that gives you some clue as to the kind of stories coming up later too ;)