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Jess lay back on his bed and smiled. Rory was coming home tomorrow.
He couldn't believe she'd actually called him every single night she'd
been in Washington. It was going to be a little weird when she got
back--he wasn't sure he was going to be able to go to sleep without
their bedtime chats. Not that he slept all that well after talking to her anyway.
He wondered if Lorelei knew she was calling him --surely she must.
Rory didn't keep secrets from her mother. But then again, she didn't tell her
about the situation with Dean. Hmmm...rebellious Rory. Jess figured he
could get used to that. He fell asleep, his mind filled with thoughts of ways they
might rebel together...
Saturday afternoon, 2:25 pm.
Rory sat on the bus, watching and counting the mile markers. She
figured she was actually going to get home about 15 minutes earlier
than she'd predicted. Her fingers tapped nervously on the back of the
book she was ignoring. What was she going to say to Jess? They'd
never actually talked about the kiss they'd shared when he'd returned
from New York, and in spite of talking on the phone every night for
the last six weeks, they'd never directly discussed their relationship
or how things were going to be when she got home. The subtext of their
conversations was clearly affectionate, and she knew that their
friendship was rock-solid now, but flirting on the phone was...well,
she couldn't help but wonder how physical proximity was going to
affect their comfort level with each other. She'd figured out by the
end of the first week, after a couple of very boring dates with
supposedly very intelligent young men, that Jess really was more than
extraordinary, and her dreams had been getting steamier with each
passing night. But it was going to be weird; she just knew it. What
if the subject didn't come up? Could she really act like she just
thought of him as a friend? Was she brave enough to bring it up
herself? She sat, nervously tapping and worrying, fighting the urge
to bite her nails, and counted the miles and minutes to home.
20 minutes later, the bus pulled into Stars Hollow and Rory caught a
glimpse of her mother, sitting on the bench with two cups of Luke's
coffee and the biggest smile Rory'd ever seen on her face as she
watched the bus pull in. Rory's nerves were suddenly replaced with a
bouncy excitement, and she gathered her bags and perched on the edge
of her seat. The moment the bus stopped, she bounded out of her seat
and out the door of the bus.
"Mom!" Rory dropped her bags and hugged her mother. "I'm so glad to
be home. I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you--Paris is
verifiably insane and I take no responsibility for the consequences of
her plans for next year, but I met some really interesting
people--there's this one girl from Boston who I'd really like to
invite down here for a visit 'cause we had such a great time in the
museums and hanging out at the back of the group making fun of all the
politicians-in-training--oh yeah, I brought you presents; they're in
my bag..."
Rory let go of her mother, sat down on the bench and started
plundering through her bag.
"Presents!" Lorelei clapped her hands. "Goody goody!"
"Uh-oh."
"Humph," said Lorelai. "Uh-oh does not bode well for my presents."
"I think I packed them in my suitcase."
"Suitcase!" said Lorelei. "Now that you mention it, I think your
suitcase may be the reason why that bus driver over there is giving me
the evil eye. I think he wants to know which suitcases are yours. Get
over there fast, daughter of mine! Spare your mother from the curse of
the Greyhound!"
Laughing, Rory went to gather her luggage. Lorelei grabbed the larger
of the bags and began dragging it behind her toward the bench where
Rory had left her purse and carry-on.
"I knew it," said Lorelei, "you stole the Library of Congress. I knew
you couldn't be trusted around that many books. What else could make
these suitcases so heavy?"
"Not the whole library, just Jefferson's original volumes. It's
just that we were staying in Georgetown and there were so many amazing
little shops and bookstores and they kept taking us to museums with
the coolest little gift shops..."
"Ladies, do you need some help with that luggage?" said a male voice
behind Rory.
"Dean!" Rory smiled and gave him a hug. "How're you? How's summer so
far?"
"Pretty good," Dean responded. "I'll tell you all about it sometime;
maybe over lunch tomorrow or something?"
"I'd like that," Rory answered, smiling. At least things apparently
weren't going to be weird with Dean. She pushed the thoughts of
Jess--and where was he anyway?--out of her mind, picked up her purse
and carry-on and started to follow Dean away from the bench.
Their little entourage only got a few feet before she saw him, turning
the corner and walking toward her with his trademark swagger and his
hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Rory turned toward him
and stopped dead in her tracks, prompting a puzzled "Rory?" from her
mom who almost plowed into her.
"I'll be right back, Mom," Rory said distractedly. She dropped the
bags she was holding and began walking to meet him, a completely
involuntary smile spreading over her face. Within steps she was
running, then hurling herself into his arms and wrapping her arms
around his neck as he spun her around and around and whispered in her
ear, "You're home. I'm so glad you're home." He set her down
with about a foot of space between them, but left his hands on her
waist and looked into her laughing face. Rory's eyes fell to Jess's
mouth and she bit her lip, slammed her eyes shut and averted them to
look at her shoes. Jess chuckled and held her waist a little more
tightly. "Amazing," he thought. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
"I want to kiss you too," he murmurred. Rory looked up at him; her eyes registering surprise. For a moment he
thought he'd misunderstood, then her eyes fell to his mouth and he could see her remember how they felt. She
moistened her lips in anticipation and dragged her eyes, dark with the recollection, back up to his.
"Jess," she breathed. But his hands kept her from leaning forward.
"There's too many people here," he whispered. "This kiss…well, it could be embarrassing, so..." Jess inhaled a
shaky breath. "Later. I've waited this long. I want to wait until we're alone."
She smiled. There was a crooked half-smirk on his face but his eyes were glittering and intense. It wasn't going to
be weird at all. It was going to be incredible.
Jess lay back on his bed and smiled. Rory was coming home tomorrow.
He couldn't believe she'd actually called him every single night she'd
been in Washington. It was going to be a little weird when she got
back--he wasn't sure he was going to be able to go to sleep without
their bedtime chats. Not that he slept all that well after talking to her anyway.
He wondered if Lorelei knew she was calling him --surely she must.
Rory didn't keep secrets from her mother. But then again, she didn't tell her
about the situation with Dean. Hmmm...rebellious Rory. Jess figured he
could get used to that. He fell asleep, his mind filled with thoughts of ways they
might rebel together...
Saturday afternoon, 2:25 pm.
Rory sat on the bus, watching and counting the mile markers. She
figured she was actually going to get home about 15 minutes earlier
than she'd predicted. Her fingers tapped nervously on the back of the
book she was ignoring. What was she going to say to Jess? They'd
never actually talked about the kiss they'd shared when he'd returned
from New York, and in spite of talking on the phone every night for
the last six weeks, they'd never directly discussed their relationship
or how things were going to be when she got home. The subtext of their
conversations was clearly affectionate, and she knew that their
friendship was rock-solid now, but flirting on the phone was...well,
she couldn't help but wonder how physical proximity was going to
affect their comfort level with each other. She'd figured out by the
end of the first week, after a couple of very boring dates with
supposedly very intelligent young men, that Jess really was more than
extraordinary, and her dreams had been getting steamier with each
passing night. But it was going to be weird; she just knew it. What
if the subject didn't come up? Could she really act like she just
thought of him as a friend? Was she brave enough to bring it up
herself? She sat, nervously tapping and worrying, fighting the urge
to bite her nails, and counted the miles and minutes to home.
20 minutes later, the bus pulled into Stars Hollow and Rory caught a
glimpse of her mother, sitting on the bench with two cups of Luke's
coffee and the biggest smile Rory'd ever seen on her face as she
watched the bus pull in. Rory's nerves were suddenly replaced with a
bouncy excitement, and she gathered her bags and perched on the edge
of her seat. The moment the bus stopped, she bounded out of her seat
and out the door of the bus.
"Mom!" Rory dropped her bags and hugged her mother. "I'm so glad to
be home. I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you--Paris is
verifiably insane and I take no responsibility for the consequences of
her plans for next year, but I met some really interesting
people--there's this one girl from Boston who I'd really like to
invite down here for a visit 'cause we had such a great time in the
museums and hanging out at the back of the group making fun of all the
politicians-in-training--oh yeah, I brought you presents; they're in
my bag..."
Rory let go of her mother, sat down on the bench and started
plundering through her bag.
"Presents!" Lorelei clapped her hands. "Goody goody!"
"Uh-oh."
"Humph," said Lorelai. "Uh-oh does not bode well for my presents."
"I think I packed them in my suitcase."
"Suitcase!" said Lorelei. "Now that you mention it, I think your
suitcase may be the reason why that bus driver over there is giving me
the evil eye. I think he wants to know which suitcases are yours. Get
over there fast, daughter of mine! Spare your mother from the curse of
the Greyhound!"
Laughing, Rory went to gather her luggage. Lorelei grabbed the larger
of the bags and began dragging it behind her toward the bench where
Rory had left her purse and carry-on.
"I knew it," said Lorelei, "you stole the Library of Congress. I knew
you couldn't be trusted around that many books. What else could make
these suitcases so heavy?"
"Not the whole library, just Jefferson's original volumes. It's
just that we were staying in Georgetown and there were so many amazing
little shops and bookstores and they kept taking us to museums with
the coolest little gift shops..."
"Ladies, do you need some help with that luggage?" said a male voice
behind Rory.
"Dean!" Rory smiled and gave him a hug. "How're you? How's summer so
far?"
"Pretty good," Dean responded. "I'll tell you all about it sometime;
maybe over lunch tomorrow or something?"
"I'd like that," Rory answered, smiling. At least things apparently
weren't going to be weird with Dean. She pushed the thoughts of
Jess--and where was he anyway?--out of her mind, picked up her purse
and carry-on and started to follow Dean away from the bench.
Their little entourage only got a few feet before she saw him, turning
the corner and walking toward her with his trademark swagger and his
hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Rory turned toward him
and stopped dead in her tracks, prompting a puzzled "Rory?" from her
mom who almost plowed into her.
"I'll be right back, Mom," Rory said distractedly. She dropped the
bags she was holding and began walking to meet him, a completely
involuntary smile spreading over her face. Within steps she was
running, then hurling herself into his arms and wrapping her arms
around his neck as he spun her around and around and whispered in her
ear, "You're home. I'm so glad you're home." He set her down
with about a foot of space between them, but left his hands on her
waist and looked into her laughing face. Rory's eyes fell to Jess's
mouth and she bit her lip, slammed her eyes shut and averted them to
look at her shoes. Jess chuckled and held her waist a little more
tightly. "Amazing," he thought. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
"I want to kiss you too," he murmurred. Rory looked up at him; her eyes registering surprise. For a moment he
thought he'd misunderstood, then her eyes fell to his mouth and he could see her remember how they felt. She
moistened her lips in anticipation and dragged her eyes, dark with the recollection, back up to his.
"Jess," she breathed. But his hands kept her from leaning forward.
"There's too many people here," he whispered. "This kiss…well, it could be embarrassing, so..." Jess inhaled a
shaky breath. "Later. I've waited this long. I want to wait until we're alone."
She smiled. There was a crooked half-smirk on his face but his eyes were glittering and intense. It wasn't going to
be weird at all. It was going to be incredible.