Time After Time - A Gilmore Girls Fanfic #1

Chapter 19

Rory sat at her grandfather's desk with her fingers resting on the keys of her laptop, trying to start the next chapter of her story and failing. She stared into space for thirty minutes, finding it near impossible to keep from thinking of the previous night, of what she and Jess had finally done. After all these years, she finally received her answer on what it would be like with Jess. She had known it would be good—after all, they had always shared a strong attraction to each other—but it far surpassed anything she could have ever imagined.

Her cheeks flushed at the memory of his face as he'd moved over her, his expression a mixture of tenderness and possessiveness that had taken her breath away. In that moment, she'd felt no hesitation or doubt. For the second time that night, she'd come to the realization that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

She wondered, as her entire body rose in temperature, if maybe the two of them had been working up to that moment, if maybe all those years apart had led up to that night when they found their way back to each other.

Struck with inspiration, she sat up and searched for the document she'd written about Jess. The story had ended with their goodbye in Philadelphia, when he'd kissed her and she'd confessed she was in love with Logan.

She began typing, starting with the drive home from Philadelphia after seeing Jess, when she'd sat alone in her car with only her regrets for company. It had been the longest drive of her life.

She didn't know how long she'd been writing, but she finally surfaced from the depths of her thoughts when there was a knock on the door.

"You busy?" Luke asked, peering in.

She finished typing and hit Save. "Nope."

He came in and stood by the open curtains, arms folded at his chest. "You getting much writing done?" he asked, motioning to the laptop.

She glanced back at her laptop. Almost sixteen hundred words in a little over an hour. "I actually am. My veins are open and the blood is flowing." When Luke's eyes widened in horror, she added, "It's a quote from Walter Wellesley Smith. He said You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed."

He let out a relieved breath. "Yeah, might want to start off with that." He stared at her, opening his mouth as if to say something only to shut it again. He repeated the process a few more times before Rory finally asked, "Everything okay, Luke?"

His forehead wrinkled. "Have you heard from Jess?"

"No. Why?" she said, dread snaking up her spine.

He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I just had customers who came in from New York. They said the interstates were bad. There was a—" He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Never mind. I'm sure he's fine."

"What is it?" she asked. "Tell me."

He sighed. "There was a huge accident on I-95. But I'm sure it's nothing."

"What?" Before she knew it, she was on her feet, dialing Jess' number on her phone. It rang and rang and eventually went to voicemail.

"I'm sure he's fine," Luke said, trying and failing to conceal his worry.

Rory shook her head and dialed again. And once more, it went to voicemail. She turned to her computer and performed a search for Truncheon Books, locating the company's phone number without problem.

"Truncheon Books. Mark speaking. How may I help you?" said the voice on the other line.

"Hi. I'm trying to get a hold of Jess Mariano," Rory said, glancing up at Luke. "I was just wondering if you'd heard from him yet?"