Chapter 3
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Chapter Three: Just Breathe Rory could not believe what she was doing, she was crazy and insane and …lovesick…she smiled to herself at that last thought. She had never truly been in love, not this kind, the kind that made you feel like you were being swept up in a tornado, the kind that caused a warm swell in your heart at the very thought of the person, the kind that could knock you down…literally. She rested her head against the cold window of the Greyhound bus and exhaled, causing a cloud of mist to fog up the window, obstructing her view of the dirty Manhattan Streets. She shook her head again and fought the urge to pinch herself to see if this was really happening, to see if she was finally opening her heart and letting it take over. Her mom was going to be so angry. When she found out that Rory was in the city and not at home like a good little girl when she was away on business, there would be some serious consequences. Her thoughts were interrupted by the Bus driver announcing the next stop to be the corner of 67th and Columbus, that’s me, ok, here goes nothing…I’m really here…this is really happening…I am finally going to have everything that I’ve wanted for so long, my life is finally going to make sense.

Down here in the atmosphere
Garbage and city lights
You've gone to save your tired soul
You've gone to save our lives

For a few moments Rory just stood there, not exactly sure of her next move. She wasn’t used to the fast pace of the city and got jostled quite a bit when she was trying to stand still and gather her thoughts. Finally, without instruction from her mind, her hand slipped into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. It held Jess’ mom’s address on it; she had gotten it from Luke earlier that day, telling him she was thinking about writing to Jess. She smiled to herself as she perused the words “Charles Building, Apartment 27E, 49th St, NY,NY.”...ok, 49th St. can’t be to hard to find, just ask someone… then she realized that that was not likely, she had read enough to know that New Yorkers were not the friendliest lot, or the most helpful. Rory plopped down on a bench and looked around, not exactly knowing what she was looking for, and before she knew it rain drops were falling on her head, and smiled to herself…ok, I am officially living a mushy romance novel…lets just hope I can live up to the cliché/soap opera ending of falling into my lover’s arms… and with that she stood up and began walking south, without any idea where this direction would land her, but what the hell?. She continued walking for a while and, again on instinct, turned a corner…and the jury says? Ha ha yes! Ten points to ESP! She thought as the green ‘49th St.’ sign glared down at her. She stood there for a few minutes and looked the street up and down, searching for some sign to indicate the ‘Charles Building.’ After a few minutes of fruitless searching her eyes landed on an extremely tall grayish structure, which looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since it was built, which, judging by the crumbling gargoyles adorning the roof, was somewhere in the early 1900s.

I turned on the radio
To find you on satellite
I'm waiting for the sky to fall
I'm waiting for a sign

Rory sighed to herself, suddenly feeling a dreading sensation creeping up her body. She really hadn’t thought about this, she had no idea how he was going to react. She stopped short, he fingers inches from the door handles. She dropped her hand and looked around, and, having no idea what else to do, she just sat down on a decrepit, rotting wooden bench. She crossed her arms nervously, just sitting there in the rain, which was growing stronger and harder as the seconds crept by. Ten minutes later she was completely soaked through and still without any inkling of what to do from there. She knew there were two possibilities, one being to turn and run away, which she knew she was good at from several past experiences. But no, she couldn’t do that, she had come all this way…And then there was option two, stop being a coward and go find him. She rubbed her head and wiped rain droplets out of her eyelashes…c’mon Rory, don’t be stupid, he feels the same way you do, you could always see it in his eyes no matter how hard he tried to hide it…She pulled her legs up beside her and buried her head between her knees, trying to think, when she was started by a thunderclap ringing through the sky. She jerked her head out of her legs and the second she looked up her eyes rested on the movie theater across the street. The yellow and red lights were boasting a declaration of a 50’s night, and the only movie listed was “A Farewell To Arms” starring James Dean ++(Ok people I know that James Dean probably never starred in A Farewell To Arms, I don’t even know if they made a movie of that book, but work with me here, use your imaginations)++ Rory smiled to herself at the obviousness of the metaphorical sign being presented to her now…A Farewell To Arms…Hemingway…James Dean…Happy coincidence? I think not…And that was all she needed to push her through the door to his apartment building.

I'm praying that you don't burn out
Or fade away

The ride in the elevator was probably at most two minutes long, but it seemed like a lifetime. Rory was replaying every moment between them over and over in her mind’s eye, from the moment he arrived in Stars Hollow to the picnic lunch they had, to the sleigh ride before the Bracebridge Dinner, to the smiles they had shared right before the accident. And with every passing second Rory grew more and more confident. She felt the elevator slow and wrench into a sudden stop, and as the doors opened in front of her eyes she could feel electricity spreading through her body that made her heart jump and her breath short. She walked slowly down the hall and stopped before Apartment 27E. She paused for a moment to draw a deep, shaky breath…Just breathe, not matter what happens, just remember to breathe…and lifted her quavering fist, and with every knock she felt her heart becoming more and more distinct on her sleeve.

You're falling back to me
The star that I can see
I know you’re out there
Somewhere out there
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