Chapter 6: Mistletoe

           Just inches.

           Rory could feel them moving closer and closer, and the anticipation was unbearable.  She wanted to speed up the seemingly slow process, but it was out of her control.  She wasn’t in charge of her body, nor he of his; but rather some ethereal force.

           But the moment was soon shattered by the clearing of someone’s throat.  Both Rory and Jess pulled quickly away, without the satisfaction of this long awaited kiss.  Rory turned around.

           Dean.  What an unpleasant surprise.

           “Um, excuse me, but you’re blocking the door.”  Dean icily said as he waited impatiently to gain entrance to the diner.  Jess stared at him coldly.

           “Oh, um… Sorry, I was just going.”  Rory said, resigning to the fact the kiss wasn’t going to happen. “Thanks for the book, Jess.”  Not wanting the evening to be a complete loss, she gave him a hug.  They lingered for a moment in each other’s arms, breathing in the other’s intoxicating aroma.  Rory pulled away first, and hurriedly ran ahead to catch up with Lorelai.  Jess stared after her, moving to the side a bit to reluctantly allow Dean to come in. 

           “So…what was that?”  Lorelai asked her daughter as she joined her side.  They walked briskly along the sidewalk, not wanting to linger in the cold. 

           Rory looked at her mother. “Nothing.”

           Lorelai raised her eye at Rory.  “Are you sure?  It looked like something.”

           “Nope.”

           “Nothing?”

           “Nothing.”

           “Wanna talk about this ‘nothing’?”

           “Nah.”

           “What’s with all of your mono-word-sentence-ism-ness?”  Lorelai asked, frustrated at her daughter’s denial.  She knew perfectly well that was an almost kiss.  But now she needed the details.

           “Mom, that’s not a word.  Not even a little bit.”

           “Hah!  Got you to talk.  Now don’t stop, spill.”

           “There’s nothing to tell.”  Rory cursed herself for falling for her mother’s weird mind game.  She was normally so good at outwitting her mother…

           “I beg to differ…”

           “You can’t differ, you don’t even know!”

           “Know what?”  She was trying another game.

           “Something…” Rory had caught this one and replied ambiguously.

           “Damnit!”  Lorelai pouted and gave Rory the ‘puppy-dog’ face.

           “Stop, mom.”  Lorelai made a few annoyingly accurate whines.  “Mom!”  A few more.  “Fine, mom.  There was an almost moment between Jess and me.  But that was all!  It was just an ‘almost moment’.  Happy now?”

           “Very.  Well, not really.  I’m not happy that it was an almost moment.  It should have been a moment.”

           “Do you mean that?”

           “Of course, sweetie.  I can see it.  I know.”

           “Know what?”

           “I know you know.”

           “You know I know what?”

           “I know you know that you have feelings for Jess.”

           “Stop with the I know’s!”

           “You love Jess!”  Lorelai smirked.

           “No I don’t!” Rory countered.

           “Yes you do!”

           “No.” Rory was growing impatient.

           “Yes.” So was Lorelai.

“Nuhuh.”

“Yahuh.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I’m right.” Lorelai would never give up. 

“No you are not!”

“Yes I am!”

“You don’t LOVE Jess!” Lorelai shouted, a trick up her sleeve.  Rory fell for this one all the time.

“Yes I do LOVE Jess!”  Rory realized her mistake in falling for another trick.  But she didn’t care so much this time.  Her mother had made it clear and simple.  She loved Jess.  It all made so much sense.  The flutters.  When he comforted her so often. Her desire to talk to him and never stop talking to him. 

“Hah!  You do!”  Lorelai stated simply.

“You’re right.  I do.”

“I knew it.” She boasted.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.  I was right.  I gave my daughter love advice.  I am the coolest mom.”  Rory rolled her eyes.  “Now what?”

“I don’t know.”  Rory admitted.

“You could tell him?”

“No, what if he doesn’t feel the same way?”  It would be positively mortifying.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you blind?”  Rory looked at her mother inquisitively.  “Rory, how can you not see how head over heels in love with you he is?!?!”

“What?”  Rory thought for a moment over her times with Jess.  She remembered back to the time when he had compared Shane to tea.  Was she the coffee?  Was Rory Jess’s coffee?  “Ohhhhhhh.”

“It is so obvious.  We talk about it all the time.”

“Who talks about it all the time?”

“Me and um…..Me.  I talk about it all the time.”

           “With whom though?”

           “Did you not just hear me?!?!? Me!”  Rory laughed at her mother’s craziness.

           “Mom, what do I do?”

           “Well you love him, and we’re pretty certain it’s reciprocated.  You’ve got two options.  Talk to him about it, be a brave soul.  Or just leave some subtle hints.  He’s a smart boy, and if he is interested, he’ll pick up on them.”

           “Hmmm… What kind of hints do you have in mind?”

           “Touching his arm when you talk to him.   Drop a pen and give him a peek when you bend down.  Bat your eyelashes like there’s no tomorrow…” Lorelai sighed, thinking back to her youth.  Her interrupted youth.

           “Mom!  That is so not me!  I can’t do that.”

           “You’re right.  Doesn’t suit you.”

           “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

           “You’ll figure something out.  Why don’t you go take a bath.  They always help me think.” Lorelai offered.

           “Alright.  Will do.” 

           The mother and daughter soon arrived at their house and after depositing her jacket, Rory went right for the bathroom.  She needed to do some serious thinking.

************

           Rory sat in the lukewarm water and she began to shiver.  She had been in the bath for over an hour, and she hadn’t thought of anything.  No hints.  Not one.  And now she needed to get out before she died of hypothermia and never got a chance to tell Jess how she felt.

           Rory pulled the plug and went to get up out of the bat tub.  And then it hit her, just like the cold air hit her naked body.  She knew exactly what she needed to do, after she warmed up of course.

           She wrapped a towel around herself and got dressed in some comfortable clothes and a jacket.  She wrapped her wet head in a hat, not wanting to waste any time.  She picked up a few things from her room and around the house. 

           “I’ll be back later Mom.”

           “Woah, wait, Ror.  Where are you going?”

           “I did some good thinking.”  Rory smiled and her mother did too. 

           “Alright be careful.  Don’t be too late.  And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.   Or would do…” She winked at Rory as she bolted out the door.

“Bye Mom!”  She called from the porch.  But she didn’t dawdle.  She ran.   

************

Jess sat himself down on the couch in the apartment.  They had been so close.  So close to kissing, yet so far.  If only it weren’t for Dean.  If he hadn’t interrupted them, Jess was sure they would have kissed.  And it would have been great.  But alas, it hadn’t happened, and Jess didn’t want to dwell on it. 

His thoughts were interrupted when Luke opened the door to the apartment.  Luke stood in the doorway, trying to figure out what to say. 

“Are you and Rory a couple? Luke finally asked.

“Nope,” Jess replied without looking up from Catcher In The Rye.

“Then what happened down there?”

“Nothing.”

“No, you kissed.”

“No we didn’t.”

“Then what would you call it?”

Jess finally placed his book on his lap and looked up.  “We almost kissed, but it didn’t happen.  Dean came and Rory left.  But boy am I glad to know we had an audience.”  The last sentence was dripping with sarcasm.

“Jess, let’s talk about this like adults.”  Luke said seriously as he sat down on the other side of the couch.

“But, dear, uncle Luke, I’m still a minor.”  Luke pointed out with a smirk on his face.  He loved to be difficult.

“Jess…”

“Fine, but there’s nothing to tell.”

“But why do I have this feeling that there is?”

“Okay, so something may have happened before.”  Jess admitted.

“Something…like?” Luke urged. He knew it!

“I can’t say.”

“Why not?”

“Because I,…I just can’t.  You’re gonna have to accept that.”  Warning signs went off in Luke’s head.

“What?  What did you do to her?  If you hurt her…” Luke stood up threateningly.

“Jeez, relax Luke.  I didn’t do anything to her.”  Luke scoffed.  He did want to believe it though…

“Jess?”

“Drop it.”

“But she---” Jess cut him off.

“We were dropping this, remember?”

“Fine.”  He waited a minute and Jess picked up his book and began to read once more.  “So, you love Rory, huh?”

“Luke…”  Jess warned.

“Come on, Jess.  I’m happy for you!  Rory will be good for you.”  Jess dropped the book.

“Well, even if I do, and I’m not saying I do, I don’t think she is interested.”  Jess sighed as he said this, replaying the almost kiss and the hug over and over in his head.  Although, she certainly seemed interested then.

“Be a man.  Tell her you are.  Ask if she is.”  Luke stated bluntly.

“I’m not going to commit love suicide.”

“Fine, Jess, I just can’t help you then.”

“Okay,” Jess said shortly, a smile spreading across his face. 

“Since when do you smile?”

“Since she said yellow.”  Jess finally realized what yellow meant.  He felt so dense, not knowing before, it was so obvious.  He had said that he needed to know all of those things about a potential girlfriend.  He already had known all of them about Rory, except for her favorite color.  And she told him that night, and she wasn’t subtle about it.  It was actually blatant and obvious.  It was her way of telling him how she felt.

“Yellow?  What?”  Luke asked, thoroughly confused, but Jess didn’t respond. 

He went back to his book, trying to get Rory to the back of his mind so he could concentrate, but Rory kept popping back.  It was pleasant though and he found himself smiling like a fool.  A fool in love. 

************

           After a while, Luke went back downstairs to the diner and Jess continued to read.  He was thoroughly enjoying Phoebe’s conversation with Holden when he heard the door open again.  Assuming it was just Luke coming up after closing the diner, Jess didn’t look up or pay any attention to the door.  But after not hearing any footsteps or Luke’s greeting, Jess’s curiosity got the better of him so he looked up.

           Standing there in front of him was a snow-covered and shivering Rory.  She smiled at him, but still did not move.  Shaking off some of the snow from her shoulders, she moved her hand to show that she was holding something, but Jess couldn’t see what it was.  With her free hand, she removed her hat and her wet hair fell to her shoulders.  She shivered again, partly due to her frigidness and partly due to her anxiousness. 

           Jess thought she looked beautiful.

           He wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t.  She looked like she was on a mission. 

           Rory finally walked up to him and stopped just inches away.  She lifted her occupied hand into the air above them.  Screw subtle hints.

           Mistletoe.

           “What are you doing here?”  His voice was just above a whisper.  He wanted to put his hands on her hips, bring her closer.  Keep her warm.  But just as he was about to do so, she shivered again and he lost his nerve. 

           “I needed to be next to you.”  They smiled.

           Rory stood there for a moment, still holding the mistletoe up there.  Her arm was getting tired though, so she needed to make her move soon.

           And she did.

           In one swift movement, Rory leaned into Jess and pressed her lips against his.  She immediately felt her knees weaken and she fell into him her arm finally dropping, the mistletoe fluttering to the floor.  She wrapped both of her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him hungrily. 

           Jess couldn’t believe this was happening.  He was kissing Rory, again.  But this time was better than at Sookie’s wedding.  Not that their first kiss wasn’t great…but this one was just amazing.  He assumed that this meant that she wanted to be more than friends.  Maybe this time she wouldn’t run away.

Here with you, Near with you

Oh I

I need to be next to you

I need to have your heart next to mine

For all times

Hold you for all my life

I need to be next to you