Chapter 6

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. You were totally ignoring me, so I thought you were mad about the letter!" Rory exclaimed.

"I never got the letter."

"What?"

"Dean got to it before I did. He took the letter."

Rory frowned. "Then how do you know about it?" she asked.

"I saw you drop it off, and then I saw Dean come in, read the letter, and take off with it."

"Why didn't you stop him if you knew it was for you?" Rory's head was spinning from this new piece of information. God, he hadn't even gotten her letter. She felt so dumb to think he had been ignoring her...All that time wasted...

"I don't know. Bagboy didn't look like he was in a good mood to talk to. I did talk to him about it, though. The next day or something."

"You did?"

"Yeah, and he punched me."

"Oh my god, how did I not know about this?" Rory cried.

Jess shrugged. "It's ancient history, don't get stressed out about it. It was probably for the best, anyway."

"Do you really believe that?" Rory asked, eyeing him.

Jess was quiet. "I don't know," he answered slowly.

"So you never read the letter?"

"Nope. Dean wouldn't give it up."

"God, that makes me so mad. I wrote everything down, and I was waiting for a response from you, and--hey! Why didn't you talk to me about the letter?"

"I didn't know what it was about. For all I knew, you were telling me to go back to New York or something," Jess told her. He paused. "What did the letter say?"

Rory swallowed nervously. She finally answered him by placing a hand on his back and pushing him closer. And then they kissed. Surprised by her spontaneity, it took a moment for Jess to respond. When he did, however, it wasn't exactly the response Rory had been hoping for.

Jess pulled back and looked her in the eye. She appeared embarrassed about what she had just done, and he was sure him pulling away like that didn't help the matter any.

He placed his hand on hers and stroked her hand with this thumb. "I should go," he said softly.

"Yeah. I guess you should," Rory agreed numbly.

Jess sighed, standing up. "Should I tell Shea--"

"No," Rory said quickly, cutting him off.

"--that you'll be working with us now," Jess finished.

"Oh. That. Um..." Rory sighed. She really needed a job, but she had just about no work experience, other than helping her mother out at the inn sometimes. She had to start somewhere.

"Okay, sure," Rory said. "So it's just you and Shea that work there?"

"And you."

"Right. And me."

"I'll be your boss," Jess smirked.

"Great," Rory replied flatly, glancing at her shoes.

"What happened to you earlier?" Shea asked as Jess came into the Literati Corner later that afternoon. "How come you didn't open?"

"I had to do something this morning," Jess answered, walking over. He stopped short when he saw Rory standing beside Shea.

"Hey, Rory works here now, is that okay?"

"Sure," Jess replied, going into the back office.

"I'll be back. Can you stay here and yell if anyone wants to buy something?" Shea asked Rory.

She nodded, going behind the counter. She watched as Shea hurried after Jess.

"Hey, Mariano," Shea called. "You don't mind that I hired Rory, do you?"

'No, considering I hired her first,' Jess thought.

"Not unless you start making out behind the counter, or in front of customers," he responded instead.

"Cool. We're going out tonight, is that okay?"

"Are you asking my permission?" Jess countered.

"Just for the night off, boss," Shea grinned.

"Go for it."

"Great. You know, you and Sarah could come, too, if you wanted. We're going dancing."

"Dancing?" Jess frowned. "Does she know you're going dancing?"

"Not yet, why?" Shea asked him, confused.

'Rory hates to dance,' Jess thought.

"Oh, I don't know. Nevermind."

"Okay..." Shea looked confused. "So did you want to come?"

"Nah, you'll be fine on your own," Jess replied with a grin.

"Let's hope so."

"So where are we going?" Rory asked Shea.

"It's a surprise," he told her, glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling--a good sign.

"Suspense...I like it."

Her smile faded, however, as they pulled up in front of a dance club. Shea noticed her disappointment, and he reacted quickly.

"Not your scene? Want to go to the movies instead?"

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized. "I didn't mean to--"

"No, it's okay. Really. I want you to have a good time. So...where to?" Shea pulled back out into the traffic.

Rory thought for a minute. "Coffee?" she suggested.

Now it was Shea's turn to look disappointed. Coffee? How...unromantic.

"We can go out after that, too, I just...I'm not much fun without any coffee in me," Rory explained.

"Alright. Good. Coffee and a movie, how's that?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Shea nodded, turning the car around and heading back the way they had come. There was a coffeeplace across from the bookstore.

Jess stared out the window of the bookstore, bored. He was tempted to close early, since there hadn't been a customer for the past hour or so, but he decided against it. It was almost closing time anyway, what's a few more minutes?

Just then the door burst open, startling Jess. He hadn't even noticed anyone walk up to the door, and he was still staring out the window.

Sarah walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. I was just upset."

"I know. It's fine, whatever."

"It's just," Sarah went on, "I feel like you don't even support me. You could care less if I win or not."

"That's not true," Jess replied with a sigh. 'Well, not entirely, at least.'

"It is too. And I don't think I can be with you anymore. It's not just last night, though. Last night just helped me realize that I need to focus more on rehearsing. I can't handle any distractions right now. I hope you're not mad."

"I agree with you."

"Oh." Sarah tried to smile. "Great, you agree. Then I guess that's that, huh? I'll see you around, Jess." She gave him a hug, and Jess pat her on the back, a brotherly gesture. That's what told her it was definitely over.

"See you," Jess replied.

Sarah left, and Jess felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Then he remembered that she still had his car, so he ran out after her and ended up driving her home and taking his extra key back.

Now the weight was lifted.

A few days later . . .

Rory sat on the couch in her apartment, reading a book. Coldplay played on the radio in the background. She would have gotten up to turn the station, but she was too comfortable.

The phone rang, and she reached behind her, grabbing the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hey sweets!"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "How are you?"

"I'm just great."

"How's Luke?"

"Fine, fine. He says hi," Lorelai responded dismissively. "What I want to know is how your date went. You never called me, and I tried to wait it out, but you know me."

Rory laughed. "God, I'm so sorry. I've had a lot on my mind. Anyway, the date went great."

"Really?" Lorelai sounded almost disappointed.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Shea and I are actually kind of dating now," Rory admitted.

"Really."

"Yeah. Don't act so surprised, Mom."

"It's not that," Lorelai assured her. "I...I don't know, I'm not thinking straight. Must be the lack of coffee," she added, a little loudly. Rory figured that was more for Luke's benefit than hers.

'She must be in the diner,' Rory thought with a grin.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Oh--hey, there's my other line. Can I call you later?"

"Ooh. Just put me on hold. I wanna see who it is!"

"Bye Mom."

Lorelai sighed. "You're no fun. Bye hun."

Rory clicked over. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Jess. Um, what...what is it?"

"I'm bored."

"That's why you called me?"

"Want to do something?" he returned.

"Now?"

"Now," he confirmed.

"Uh, I..." Rory tried to think of a reason--any reason--to say no. But it didn't work out, she realized, because she wanted to go. "Sure," she found herself saying, biting her lip.

"Alright. I'll be over in about twenty minutes."

Rory hung up, sighing. What was she doing? What about Shea? Jess was his best friend, for crying out loud. And he had a girlfriend!

She liked Shea--she really did. He was smart, funny, and extremely cute...but he wasn't Jess. Seeing Jess, even after all this time, still had a weird effect on her. Her heart still started racing every time they locked eyes, and she still got goosebumps when he smiled at her. And when she had kissed him...wow. There had definitely been some sparks between them. Whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Of course, Rory didn't know what to do with these newfound feelings. She was dating Shea...wasn't she? And Jess was dating Sarah. That's just the way it was.

And her feelings got pushed to the back burner once again.