Gilmore Girls: Precious Ties

Chapter 2: Unusual Conversations

"Champagne Rory?" Jess asked, placing a glass in her hand.

He noted she seemed flustered and immediately pushed the glass back into his hand.

"I'm ok - I've had enough already - really. Thanks anyway." Rory lied hoping Jess didn't see her blushing.

She also hoped he hadn't noticed she had only been drinking ginger ale. It wasn't like her! Jess had also observed she was only picking at her food - something he certainly had never seen before! Rory had a good appetite and an event like this would usually see her making repeated trips to the buffet while thoroughly enjoying the open bar!

"Hey, do you want to go for a walk Rory?" Jess asked tentatively. "You look like you need a break from this and I really want to hear more about your book."

"I really should be mingling. .....April and I have our bridesmaid duties you know. It's a full on job!" Rory felt her cheeks blushing again but hoped her excuse would be enough to get Jess off her case.

"Surely they can manage without you for a few minutes Ror." And without another word or waiting to hear another excuse, Jess took her firmly in hand, his arm coming around her waist and guiding her quickly away from the noisy gathering.

Rory felt her protests would be pointless and in actual fact she had really wanted to get away from the noise. Her head ached as she hadn't really eaten enough all day. She also had what she assumed was the beginnings of morning sickness and she was so tired after having only about an hour of sleep the night before.

They came to a quiet place to talk, far enough from prying ears and eyes. Sitting down on an old wooden bench, Jess turned to study Rory. She was obviously glad to be sitting down and without thinking, she leaned into him straightaway. He sensed her exhaustion and so he just sat there in silence for a few moments. Jess' mind ran through a few possible ways to start the conversation - he didn't want to scare her away now he had her there.

"So..." he began, "Luke and your mom look happy.....it's been a great day for them...Sookie sure has outdone herself with the catering..."

"Yeah, I'm so glad Mom and Luke have finally tied the knot. They both deserve so much happiness..." Rory's voice trailed off as she dissolved into tears for the second time that day. She couldn't believe it as she was not an overly emotional person. Her tears fell in torrents like a sudden deluge of rain on a summers day. Rory scolded herself as she had done such a great job of holding everything in all day. Jess always had the ability to see through her and she both loved and hated that quality.

"Hey, come on. What's going on with you?" Jess asked gently pulling her closer to himself. "You haven't seemed yourself at all today..." He wasn't expecting this sudden flow of raw emotion. Rory was usually pretty tough —it had to be something serious to make her cry like this.

"I'm ok," Rory lied trying to pull away from Jess to prove it, "Just feeling a bit emotional —it's probably just the whole wedding thing...."

She wasn't fooling Jess. He knew her well and so he continued his prodding, "I've been watching you and you haven't had one alcoholic beverage all day....you've hardly eaten and you look different somehow....you're not pregnant are you?"

With that, Rory stood to her feet, "I am not having this conversation with you Jess! Just leave me alone!" She shouted as she started walking away, "And don't follow me!"

Jess was cross with himself. He often let himself down by not thinking before he spoke! That didn't change the fact that he was quite certain he was on the right track —Rory's reaction proved it but he should have let her tell him. Jess walked back toward the celebrations, he didn't dare follow her!

Rory didn't really have the energy to walk too far. She needed to rest and had planned to maybe head home for a while - she really needed to get herself together. Instead, as she tried to keep out of view, she found herself walking through the back door of the church building. She had hardly ever been in there in all her years of living in Stars Hollow.

The sound of her heels on the old wooden floorboards seemed so loud as she made her way into the sanctuary. Feeling self conscious, she tiptoed her way to the closest pew. It felt so good to sit down in the silence there and she was pretty sure that no one would disturb her here as Reverend Skinner was at the reception.

As she sat, Rory wondered if God really listened to people when they prayed for help. She thought that it couldn't do any harm to give it a go. Not knowing where to begin since she really hadn't prayed much before, she thought she would start at the beginning.

"So God I didn't really plan to come in here ....but now that I'm here.... maybe I should talk to you...I think that's what people usually do here....I do have a lot of stuff on my mind.  I know I haven't really talked to you much in the past and I don't even know if you're listening but I could do with some advice..... You see, things have been a bit crazy lately....ok I'll admit it.... I guess you could say I am completely out of my depth! If you know everything then you probably already know I'm pregnant...wow, that's the second time I have said that today! It's starting to feel real but I am not sure I can be a mom." Tears began to trickle down her face again as she continued.

"You know this baby was made out of love, which I'm sure you would think is a good thing ......but the father won't be around...he doesn't live anywhere near me. His fiancée would flip out if she found out about this —so would his family so I don't even know when or if I should tell him.  The ridiculous thing is, he isn't marrying for love, it's just part of his father's 'dynastic plan' to merge two very influential families. If Logan had wanted me, he could have chosen a different lifestyle .....but he didn't and so here I am, alone with our baby..... I'm so tired, my emotions are all over the place and my mom is about to go off on her honeymoon. I just need to sleep...I hope they don't miss me at the wedding reception...I really can't stay awake any longer...... but I really need help......thanks for listening..."

Rory couldn't believe she had actually been chatting with God - that was something Mrs Kim would do, not Rory Gilmore - she was not the religious type at all! Somehow though, she felt a little lighter, a little more peaceful. It had been a really long day and she was feeling really very drowsy. Resting her head on the pew, Rory fell asleep in seconds, clutching onto a small Bible she had thumbed through earlier —it was one book she had never read but being a book lover, she had always been curious about it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well that was a surprise! That's probably the last place you expected to find Rory Gilmore! I wonder how she will feel about being there when she wakes up? Will she wake up in time to see the rest of Lorelai and Luke's reception?
Keep reading! With over 112 000 reads and a completed sequel (Precious Ties: The Gift which has some fascinating twists), you know it shouldn't be missed!