#she didn’t see how rory and Jess bantered or the smiles they shared or how they tried so hard to make it work

[femmedefandom]

contrary to Lorelai’s loud verbalisation on the matter, she liked Dean because she never saw him and Rory on their own…she hated Jess because she only saw them under scrutiny.

#gilmore girls #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore #anti dean forester #jess mariano #jess x rory #lorelai’s unreasonable hatred of jess #she saw dean change the water bottle and tease her daughter during movie nights and light hearted conversation at the diner #she didn’t see the way he yelled at rory or brought her to tears or intimidated her physically #she didn’t see how Rory’s disagreement or feelings were disregarded or diminished or how this perfect boyfriend wasn’t so perfect #she didn’t see how rory and Jess bantered or the smiles they shared or how they tried so hard to make it work #she was so vocal about her support for dean and disgust for jess that rory couldn’t even tell her the good things #like how jess was working so much because he needed the money to buy distillers tickets so they could see a band they both enjoy #or how he promised to be better on the next FND visit #or how it was Jess who created the care package #or how he was always supportive of her aspirations and a good listener to her worries

[missgoalie75]

gilmore girls | kayaks | rory/jess

for: @fayevalcntine​  summary: in which jess drives past rory | s6 divergence word count: ~1,500 note: lol thanks angela for the idea and talking it out with me - hopefully it makes other people laugh.

Jess can safely say that when he woke up this morning to make the trek to Hartford this hot July day, he did not expect a few things.

One, he didn’t expect to fuck up the directions because he had, in fact, made plenty of trips to Hartford when living in this state, but he guesses coming from Massachusetts threw him off.

So, he’s on some weird stretch a route that somehow expects to hold frequent traffic, but is half empty on this Wednesday morning.

Second, he didn’t expect to drive by a small group of individuals completing community service on the side of the road, one of whom looks…a lot like Rory.

It happens every once in a while - a tragic side effect of failed love, he guesses. Sometimes someone’s hair from behind takes him by surprise, or he’ll see a profile that stops his heart. But this is truly uncanny.

His foot on the accelerator lifts as he stares through the passenger side window, and when the person who looks like Rory glances up and stares at him, he realizes with a jolt that holy shit, that is Rory Gilmore standing on the side of the road wearing an orange vest and holding a garbage bag and picker.

They continue to stare at each other as he inches forward until he has the sense to stop the car with a jolt.

He puts the car in park and continues staring at her, and she stares back and eventually, she walks over toward his car.

“Hi,” he says, bewildered.

“Hi,” she responds, her face flushed.

He drums his fingers against the wheel. “Please tell me you got arrested,” he jokes. He looks over her shoulder and he doesn’t see any other people that look like Yale students, but what does he know? Maybe she specifically chose this group to volunteer with or to write some piece -

“I did,” she says in a daze.

He stares at her, waiting for the punch line that doesn’t come.

“What?”

“Gilmore! Back to work! Shift ends in forty-five minutes!”

If it’s possible, Rory turns a darker shade of pink. “I gotta go, um –"

He has enough sense to go into his back pocket for his wallet, pulling out two business cards by accident and handing both to her. “Call me when you get out. I’ll be in Hartford.”

She takes the cards and there’s a distinct, shared sense that life currently is weird and not real.

**

Jess picks a coffee place that’s frequented by college kids, but the coffee he ordered is surprisingly decent, so that’ll give him points if Rory decides to contact him.

He pulls out his rolled-up copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the last book in the series he’ll be able to do it with since the others look like door stoppers.

(He finally caved because Lily begged him for her thirteenth birthday and he’s capable of being nice. He was also strapped for cash at the time, which she figured because she’s smart.)

He’s figured pretty early on that this Lupin guy definitely knew Harry’s parents and is weirdly being evasive about it when he gets a call from an 860 number.

He picks it up. “Mariano.”

“Uh, hey. It’s Rory. I’m…done, so. I can meet you…where?”

“It’s called the Steam Room.”

“Uh, ew?”

He snorts. “Yeah, bad name. The coffee is actually pretty good. It’s on Woodland Street by the Mark Twain House.” He almost asks why they never went there, but he catches himself in the last second.

“Oh, I actually know where that is!” she says, obviously pleased with herself – her sense of direction clearly hasn't changed. “I’ll be there in…ten minutes?”

“Hot or cold?”

“Excuse me?”

“Coffee.”

“Oh, um. Iced. Hot day. Thanks - you don’t have to –"

“I’m here, it’s fine. See you in a bit.”

He hangs up and goes to order two iced coffees. He doesn’t remember if Rory takes iced coffee with milk - they were never together during the really hot months, were they - so he brings them back to the table black.

He goes back to reading to give him something to do other than stare at the door, even though he ends up re-reading paragraphs.

“Sorry, I made a wrong turn,” Rory says, jerking him out of the book. “Are you actually reading Harry Potter?”

He puts the book down and sees that she changed her outfit – a sundress that her grandma would definitely approve of – and her hair is pulled back in a bun, her hair dark at the temple with sweat.

He swallows. “Yeah, it’s a long story.”

Rory smiles down at the two coffees. “Thank you - I can’t believe you remembered.”

“Didn’t remember if you took milk with it,” he admits.

“Sometimes, but mostly no.” She picks a coffee up and sucks down half of it. “This is good.” She puts it down and seems to have a moment where she realizes this is a little too easy, which is a shame because he always preferred the easy banter.

“So, what are you doing here?” she finally asks, eyes downcast as her finger collects the condensation alongside the cup.

“It’s not remotely as interesting as you telling me that you got arrested. You gotta explain that.”

She flushes. “It’s a long story.”

“I can’t believe you got arrested and I wasn’t remotely involved,” he continues with a semi-dramatic sigh. “I have a cleaner record than Rory Gilmore. Your mother’s head would spin.”

“You definitely have stuff on your record,” she retorts.

He smiles. “As a juvenile, which was wiped when I turned eighteen. I’m as clean as a while to this day.”

She scowls.

Jess leans forward a little. “Please tell me what you got arrested for.”

She finishes her first iced coffee and begins sipping on her second. She mumbles something.

“What was that?”

“Stealing.”

“Stealing what?” he asks, bewildered.

He didn’t think her face could get any redder, but it does. What the hell would she steal that would require an arrest and court and community service -

“A boat.”

He blinks a few times. “Excuse me?”

“I stole a boat,” she blurts loudly.

They stare at each other for a long second.

“Like…a kayak?”

“No. A bigger boat.”

“Can you even sail?”

“It was…bigger.”

He furrows his brow. “A…what? A yacht? Come on, Gilmore, you have to tell me.”

She purses her mouth and doesn't correct him and he just about loses his mind.

“You, Rory Leigh Gilmore, stole a yacht. And you got arrested by port police, were taken to jail, you attended a hearing, and you were sentenced to complete many hours of community service…all for grand theft auto?”

“It was a misdemeanor and it’s categorized as larceny,��� she mumbles defensively.

He laughs loud enough to attract attention. He can’t help himself.

“Stop laughing at me!” she hisses.

He brings a hand to his mouth, but he’s still laughing.

She leans back in her chair, trying to glare, but she ends up exhaling a laugh and shaking her head after a while.

“Can we please stop talking about this stupid mistake I made and get back to you?”

He drops his hand, still grinning. “I still have questions.”

“Well, you’re not getting answers unless you start sharing, mister.”

“Fine. I’m working.”

“Working?”

He smiles a little. “I work for a printing press.”

Her eyes light up. “Wait, what? Where? How did you get the job? When?” She leans forward excitedly. Maybe it’s because there’s a chance for the conversation to move away from her, but he likes to think she’s legitimately interested.

He opens his mouth to start explaining, but Rory's phone rings with an incoming call. She gasps at the caller ID. "Shoot. It's my grandma – I totally forgot I had a – well. I have to go." She gets to her feet and stops in place as she looks to him nervously. "Do you…plan on staying long?"

"Just until tomorrow night. Then I go back to Philly."

Her eyebrows raise. "Philly?"

"Philly," he confirms.

"Do you want to grab coffee tomorrow? I really want to hear how you've been," she asks.

"Likewise."

She gives him a small, genuine smile before it cracks into a bemused grin. "I can't believe you drove by. What are the odds?"

"The same as you stealing a kayak."

Rory scrunches her nose at him before leaving the coffee shop with her remaining iced coffee. He finishes his coffee that's gone cold and brings up her empty plastic cup to the register, requesting an iced coffee. Can't be wasteful.

He's tempted to call Luke, but he refrains. He can wait to hear from her. In the meantime, he saves Rory's phone number into his and goes about his day, occasionally laughing at the idea of Rory Gilmore pirating boats. There are definitely more jokes to come.

Concept:

#literati #gilmore girls #gg fic #missgoalie writes things #'I wanna be good life's just not letting me' life meaning rory