Chapter 12 : Sometimes

"Why didn't you get on the bus? Your mom's going to be pretty mad when she has to come get you."

"And what were you planning on doing? Why did you stay back?"

"I'm not sure, but it seemed like a good idea at the time," he responded.

"And now?"

"I'm not seeing anything wrong with it so far," he said with a shrug.

"Give it time," Rory told him.

He smirked. "Want to go get coffee?"

"Sure."

Rory led the way down the street to the coffee place. They sat down, and when a waitress came over, they ordered coffee.

"How long do you think it'll be before they come looking for us?" Jess asked Rory.

A smile slowly spread across her face. "Lane will probably call my mom as soon as she gets off the bus."

"Okay, so that gives us, what, an hour before your mom gets here?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Huh. What could we do in an hour..." He looked at her suggestively and Rory's face grew hot.

"Jess!"

He shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee as soon as the waitress set it down.

"I think we should call my mom, just in case."

"Okay. Do you have a cell phone?"

"No, but I'm sure they have a phone at the counter we could use."

They walked over to the counter and asked to use the phone. Rory called her mother and left a short message as the answering machine picked up.

Rory shrugged, following Jess back to the table.

"So you don't care what Lorelai says when she comes and finds you here with me?"

"First off, I'm sure Lane told her you were with me, so Mom could tell Luke. And second, it's only Hartford. Thirty minutes away without traffic. It's hardly a grounded-for-life mistake."

"Yeah, but the fact that you could have saved her an hour's worth of driving, plus the time it takes her to actually find us--"

"Oh, oops. I guess we should get back to the bus stop," Rory said, standing up. She started digging in her purse for money to pay for her coffee, but Jess stopped her.

"I got it," he assured her, tossing some dollar bills onto the table.

"You don't have to--"

"It's no big deal, I got it," he insisted, steering her toward the door.

Rory smiled. Jess placed a hand on the small of her back as he led her outside. His arm dropped to her waist and lingered there for a moment before he reluctantly dropped his hands to his sides again.

Rory sighed, disappointed. When his hand had touched her back, she felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her. It was new and exciting--the way she used to feel when Dean held her. She fought the urge to...Well, let's just say she fought the urge to do something she would probably later regret.

Jess, noticing her quietness, asked her what she was thinking.

Blushing, Rory told him she had been thinking about the book she was reading.

"Oh."

"And you?"

"I was thinking about you," he said honestly.

Rory could feel herself starting to blush yet again. She couldn't help it. "What about me?" she asked, somewhat shyly.

He shrugged.

"You can't tell me you were thinking about me and then not tell me--"

"You told me you were thinking about your book," Jess pointed out, interrupting her protest.

"Maybe I was."

"You were not."

Rory shook her head, pulling him toward the bus stop. Jess tried to talk to her again, but the closeness between them was throwing him off. It was all he could do just to keep a stupid grin off his face.

Lorelai left the inn and headed to Hartford. Along the way, she kept asking herself why Rory would do something like this. Lane said she had made it to the bus, but waved the bus driver off when Jess didn't come.

Figures he would do something like that, but what about Rory? Why would she want to stay back with him? And what were they planning to do, hitchhike their way back to Stars Hollow?

As much as she didn't like to admit it, she knew Rory had a crush on Jess. Why else would she have stayed back? But then again, maybe she was just being too-nice-for-her-own-good Rory. Maybe she just stayed behind to make sure he didn't do anything stupid--to make sure he came back.

But then, when she thought that, she came back to 'Why would she care if he came back if she didn't have a thing for him?'

Lorelai honestly didn't know what to think. Rory always told her everything. If she liked Jess, why wouldn't she tell her?

"At least Jess is being nicer, though," Lorelai said aloud.

Then a thought occurred to her. Oh god, what if Rory was already going out with Jess, and she just didn't know how to tell her yet? That would explain the sudden niceness...

Lorelai started to drive a little faster, but by now she was already in Hartford. She drove up to the bus stop and sighed in relief as she saw both Rory and Jess standing there waiting. She stopped the car and Rory got in, avoiding Lorelai's gaze. She slid over so Jess could squeeze in beside her.

"Hi Mom," Rory greeted nervously.

"Hey."

"Sorry you had to--"

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it right now, okay?" Lorelai said. It came out a little harsher than she meant it to, so she softened her tone and added, "We'll talk about it later."

Rory bit her lip, exchanging a glance with Jess. "Alright, later it is."

"Was she mad?"

Rory was sitting on her bed later that night, talking on the phone with Lane. Her radio was playing an unfamiliar song in the background.

"Yeah, kinda. But not really for having to come get me. She's upset because she thinks I'm with Jess and I didn't tell her."

"With Jess? Like with with him?"

"Yes."

"You'd tell me if you were, right?"

"Yes."

"But...you aren't, right?"

"No!"

Lane laughed. "Just checking. Listen, I have to go. My mom's yelling at me to get off the phone. You aren't mad I called your mom, are you?"

"No. I mean, someone had to come get us."

"Right. Okay, so talk to you tomorrow."

"Sure, bye."

Rory hung up the phone and went to find her mother.

"Mom?" she called.

"In here, hun."

Rory followed the voice into the living room. "Hey. Are you still mad?"

"No, I'm not mad," Lorelai replied. She held out an arm and Rory walked over and gave her a hug.

"What are you watching?"

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

"A classic."

"Yup. Oh, Ror, I sent you this game online that Sookie send me. It's really addicting..."

"You got my attention," Rory said, walking over to the computer and signing online.

She checked her e-mail and smiled as she saw an e-mail from NYer02. She opened it and started to read...

Not catching the 'see you later' bit, and not knowing how to reply, since he hadn't really said much, Rory just closed the mail and checked her other messages. She checked out the game Lorelai sent her. It was fairly easy, at first...It was kind of like Tetris. And, like Tetris, it kept getting harder, and the blocks came down faster as she advanced. She was doing good, and had made it to level eight, when an IM appeared on the screen. She couldn't move it out of the way fast enough, so she got a game over.

Sighing, she clicked on the IM.

NYer02: hey, what's up?

CoffeeJunkie02: hey, not much, I was just playing this game my mom sent me. What about you?

NYer02: not much.

CoffeeJunkie02: I got your e-mail.

NYer02: okay

CoffeeJunkie02: hey...can I ask you something?

NYer02: sure

CoffeeJunkie02: how come your screen name is 'NYer' when you said you are from CT?

NYer02: I'm not sure. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Rory smiled. Jess had said that exact same thing earlier, when...

She didn't finish her thought, as she got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. The smile faded from her face.

CoffeeJunkie02: Jess?

CoffeeJunkie02: is that you--Jess?