Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Christopher’s phone rang and he excused himself to take the call. Rory turned around, and then she saw him. Jess was standing there under a tree, a lone figure in a warm jacket on a sunny summer day at the wedding he wasn’t invited to, in the town where he didn’t belong. And yet there he was, standing there looking her way. Rory thought she would never see him again after that time she went to visit him in New York, so she couldn’t help the nervous knots in her stomach when she noticed him in the distance. She came over to him and asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Hello to you too,” he responded in his typical Jess manner.

“Is everything okay?” her mind was reeling with all the possible scenarios and reasons why he would be here again.

“You look nice,” he complimented her instead.

“Thank you,” she exhaled softly. She was suddenly glad she spent a certain amount of time on getting ready.

“What are you doing here?” she asked fidgeting. He was making her nervous, not giving her a single response to her actual questions.

“I moved back.”

“What?”

“I moved back,” he shrugged.

“But… why?”

“Just … wanted to,” he was looking at her with those warm brown eyes that had specks of green in them in this lighting, and something just snapped in her. The longing for him that has been a permanent resident in her thoughts since he left, the butterflies in her stomach that turned into pterodactyls at the sight of him, the rush of some weird restless energy, all of it made this moment feel crucial somehow, and she felt the powerful urge to do something, anything. And so she did. She launched forward and kissed him, her arms clutching at his sides. He stumbled at little, but responded immediately, taking her face in his palms, deepening the kiss. Rory’s head was spinning like she was in a roller coast cart that just started descending, when your heart skips a bit and you can’t hear anything except for blood pumping in your ears. He felt amazing, his lips moved against hers expertly, he sucked on her lower lip a little, and she opened her mouth yearning for more. When he slipped the tip of his tongue in her mouth to meet hers, she knew she lost it. It was officially the best kiss she’s ever head. She was so overwhelmed by all of those wonderful sensations, she didn’t register when her own arms snaked around his torso, when his arms wrapped around her pulling her closer to him. She couldn’t catch her breath, and she didn’t want to. The rest of the world disappeared into a white noise and concentrated in a single point in time and space where their mouths connected. She moaned softly into his lips. He took it as a sign of encouragement and went on to pepper kisses along her jaw moving to her earlobe and down her neck. Every kiss he planted on her neck caused a minor firework explosion in her core. She didn’t even realize her neck was so sensitive. It felt like all of the nerve endings there were wired straight to her lower belly, where every touch echoed with a hot pulsating thump. She has never felt that before. It was so new and overwhelming she didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there, desperately clutching onto his back and letting him do whatever he pleased. When she felt his tongue dart out of his mouth and latched onto her pulse point, she let out his name in a whimper.

That had a major effect on Jess. He imagined, pictured the moment when she would say his name like that a hundred times, maybe more, but the real thing was so much better than his wildest fantasies. He felt his dick twitch at that. There was nothing he wanted to do more than to press her body to his tightly, to make her feel his growing hard-on, to let her know what she did to him, but he knew it would scare her away, so he didn’t dare. The way Rory smelled, the way her skin tasted and the way she felt in his arms, under his lips, it was messing with his head, he was losing all connection to reality. He was pretty sure he’s never felt this way before. Even though he was no stranger to sex, and had his fair share of conquests, this kiss with Rory somehow felt completely different from anything he’s ever experienced. He kept kissing her neck gently, careful not to leave any marks on her delicate skin, relishing in a way she trembled in his arms, in the way her chest was rising and falling rapidly against him, in the way her breathing seemed to hitch every time he touched her with his tongue leaving damp trails from the chords in her neck to her collar bones.

Something loud happened in the distance and the sound was enough to snap Rory out of her lust-induced trance. Her eyes flew open and she froze. He lifted his head from the juncture between her neck and shoulder where he was currently nipping on to a particularly sensitive spot, and looked at her. He saw her eyes wide and dark blue filled with desire and something else, confusion and then fear. He was thankful at least there was no regret in her stare. She took a step back staggering a little in her heels on the grassy hill, still drunk on his kisses.

“Oh my God,” she gasped taking another step away.

“Rory-“ he tried to follow her.

“Oh my God…” she looked positively panicked now. “I have to go.”

“Rory-“ he called softly.

“Don’t say a word!” she warned him.

“Okay,” he nodded.

“I have to go,” she turned away and ran, and then as an after-thought, she added “Welcome home.”

Jess was so shocked it happened he couldn’t move for a second. She kissed him. Rory kissed him! She let that happen, she initiated it. Maybe moving back here wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

~XXX~

Rory’s mind was a jumbled mess. She just kissed Jess! She did. He didn’t trap her, didn’t attack her, didn’t take her by surprise. She did it, herself, because she wanted it. And boy did it feel amazing! It was exhilarating! He made her whole body tremble with desire. She has never ever experienced it before. Sure, kissing Dean felt nice, but it never felt as intense, as urgent. She didn’t want Jess to stop. In fact, if he tugged on her dress, she probably would’ve taken it off letting him explore her skin with that glorious mouth of his even more. That thought scared her. Did it… did it mean she was ready for more…for sex? With Jess?

The thought about having sex with Dean never even crossed her mind, not even once! And they were together for almost two years, for God’s sake! Then a sinking feeling settled in her stomach. Dean… She just cheated on Dean… he didn’t deserve it. Just because she didn’t have the same feelings for him anymore like she used to, didn’t mean she had a right to cheat on him. What kind of a horrible person was she? She felt like crying, but she couldn’t, not now. It was Sookie’s wedding, so she had to be there, standing next to her mom, and then face Dean… how was she supposed to do that knowing she just cheated on him? Knowing she let some other guy suck all over her neck? That thought made a tiny throb of arousal pulse in her nether regions again. Guilt overwhelmed her. This was so wrong. What was she supposed to do?

She couldn’t tell Dean though, but she should… Shouldn’t she? Finally, she figured there would be time to dissect every single emotion later. Now she had to put her game face on and get through that wedding somehow.

~XXX~

Kissing and running. That seems to be her thing. Hasn’t she learnt anything at all? She’s been in a relationship with Dean for almost two years for crying out loud! But her first kiss with Dean was so different from this kiss with Jess. She was just a naïve girl back then, running away, stealing cornstarch in the process. This time around though, she officially became a cheater. Kissing was the only thing they did with Dean, they didn’t go any further, so kissing someone else seemed like a pretty big deal. It could be categorized as cheating for sure.

Then why would she do that? Why would she act like that? So unlike herself? Probably for the same reason she went to New York to see Jess without telling anyone about it. Dean still didn’t know about that little stunt she pulled. She denied it so furiously when Lorelai suggested it, that she was falling for Jess. And maybe she would be able to continue lying to herself, pretending like this whole thing never happened, if he didn’t come back. If only he just stayed in New York… She could think about it as a fluke, a minor mishap in her perfect little world. But he came back, and she could no longer deny it. She had fallen for Jess Mariano, and she has absolutely no idea what to do about it.