Chapter Text
She can taste her own tears on his mouth, feels a little pathetic at having cried so openly in the middle of the bus terminal, but then Jess presses himself against her, kisses her harder, and she just doesn't care about anything else. He nips at her bottom lip before pulling away to press their foreheads together. Her ankles are beginning to hurt from trying to steady herself but she never wants to move.
"I'm sorry," He whispers, so much gentler this time but it still sounds heavy from his mouth.
She curves her good hand around his cheek, lets her throat swell at the sight of him nuzzling into it, turning his head to press his mouth against the palm, "Jess, it wasn't your fault." It leaves no room for argument and he just tugs her mouth back to his.
Jess registers that they're still in the middle of the bus terminal; remembers when he was boarding for Stars Hollow there was a couple reuniting like this and he had hated the sight of it. He pulls away from Rory, chuckles against her lips when she presses another kiss to his mouth. "Ror, let's get you out of you here. There's going to be some very unhappy New Yorkers outside we can annoy with all of this, let's not save it all for grumpy commuters."
Ever on brand, her backpack threatens to knock him down when he slings it across his shoulder but he refuses to let Rory hold it, grabs her hand to interlock their fingers when she reaches for the straps. He has to let go of her hand and pull her along by the waist when they step outside; it's prime rush hour and this is 8th Avenue. He leads them to Washington Square Park, smirks at her when she lets out a little noise of recognition when she sees the sign.
She wants to sit by the fountain and two people barrel out of her way when she starts dragging him along.
"So," He lets his arm sit along the bench behind her when he sits down, drops that same arm around her shoulders when she leans into his side, hand on his thigh, "Who knows you're here?"
She rests her cheek against his shoulder, he feels her cheeks pull into a small smile when he pushes some of her hair back and kisses her temple. The last time they sat like this she was crying and he was cradling her wrist to stop her from moving it and causing more damage. He runs a finger along her cast now, follows the bumps of stickers along the plaster.
"Luke told me your address," She says gently, squeezes his thigh when he tenses at his name, "But he was asleep when I left. I left my mom a note, too, but I don't know if she woke up yet."
"Do you want to call her?"
She shakes her head, rests her chin against his shoulder now to look at him. He'd convinced himself he could never forget what her eyes looked like but now, staring right into them, it's like being drenched in freezing water and immediately being wrapped in a warm, fluffy towel. They're still glossy from where she was crying a few moments ago, but so stupidly bright he almost wants to look away. He knocks their foreheads together, chuckles when she smiles at him.
"Hi," She whispers and it reminds him they never said that.
"Hey."
"Sorry I never called."
He swallows a lump in his throat, kisses the corner of her mouth, and gets surprised by the sudden urge to never stop showing her affection, "I'm sorry I ran."
"You had to."
"I didn't have to. It was-" He stops, doesn't want to say it, can't say it.
So she does, "Easier." He can't find any judgment in her voice but sees the question in her eyes. Knows she wants to ask and try and make it all better.
"Are you okay?" He asks instead.
"I'm okay." It's so convincing the way she says it yet he can't bring himself to believe it. When she asks him, tentative and worried, he repeats her words right back, seals it with a kiss to her mouth that leaves them both a little breathless and an old lady two benches over clears her throat at them. She blushes red at her warning when she passes and he can't help but double over laughing.
"You're such an out of towner."
"Shut it," She warns him, joins in with him when he tries to kiss her but can't stop laughing.
He takes her to Hatti's, mainly because he doesn't know where else to go. He's not sure if Liz would have left the apartment by now or if she's just invited whatever junkie over instead, and he doesn't want Rory seeing that. He knows, with the backpack on his shoulder, that she's packed clothes and she'll stay with him - he refuses to think about her staying in a hotel or hostel, can't afford to get one for the both of them anyway - but he wants to prolong that for as long as possible. Give a word of warning, maybe? Led her down some of the sketchier streets on the way home to give her an insight? He shakes that thought away as soon as it comes up; he'll talk to her, give her some warning, answer all her questions when they're alone.
Rory keeps a tight hold on his hand the entire walk to the bookstore. It's almost as if she's afraid he's going to run, or she'll let her mind focus and she'll be back in Stars Hollow. Every time she has to wiggle the blood back into her fingers, Jess panics that she'll let go and he'll find she was never there, grips her hand tighter and only slackens his hold when she squeezes his fingers.
She's practically vibrating when he leads them into the store and he hides a grin by turning away from her when she lets go and starts exploring the shelves. He drops her backpack behind the counter, sits on the stool, and rests his elbow on the counter, chin in his hand as he watches her. The store's empty but he can hear Hatti bustle about out back, he'll fill her in when she comes round to the front, but Rory's studying each and every book with the same level of concentration and Jess has always liked the look on her face when books get involved.
"You've read that," He says when she picks up a Hemingway.
She flicks open to the middle of the book and looks up at him, smiling so gently he feels his chest constrict. "You've written in this."
He holds a hand out, takes her wrist when she goes to hand him the book, lets himself smile when Rory giggles shyly as she rounds the counter. She rests between his thighs, back to his chest, and points at one of his notes. "How many have you written in?" She's whispering again and Jess holds down a shiver.
"A few," He says, laces one hand with hers and wraps his free arm around her waist, securing her in place. He was never one for PDA like this, but he's just spent six days away from Rory and had himself convinced that they were done before they even started - screw it, he's indulging. "Most of these are second hand, anyway."
She starts flicking through the pages just to read his notes and Jess presses his nose to the junction where her neck meets her collar. She's warm there, despite the chill outside, and he likes that she just nuzzles against his hair. He knows she's never questioned him outright, but there's always been a question in her eyes whenever he hugged her, content there when he kissed her. He squeezes her middle now, thinks about the times he'd reveal a little bit more about Liz or New York and she always looked ready for more - like she wanted to ask a dozen questions and get a dozen and one answers, but never pushed him any further than he was willing to go. Always let him take the lead in that sense. He knows that (most probably tonight) there'll be a conversation that they should have had ages ago, but that can wait for when the novelty of her being here wears off.
He knows it never will. She followed him here, to New York, and that'll never be something he just accepts and moves on from. He never wants her to think - never wants himself to think - that this is anything short of amazing.
"Jess, you're not working today- Oh, hello."
Jess jerks his head up but can't bring himself to let go of Rory, relaxes when it doesn't look like she's not prepared to move away either. Hatti's stood a few feet away, a box of books in her arms and a dumbfounded expression on her face, eyes flicking between Jess and Rory. He'd never spoken to her about girls, or let on that whatever girl Hatti saw leaving his apartment once in a while was anything serious - especially never brought them here, or got as close to them as he is now.
He clears his throat, gives Rory another small squeeze but he doesn't know if it's for her benefit or his, "Hatti, meet Rory. Rory, Hatti."
Rory moves to shake her hand, "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Sugar," She sounds so much like Babette it makes Jess shiver, but then Rory's right back there, holding his wrist because she was still looking at Hatti when she reached blindly for his hand. He lets his fingers fall to the back of her thighs, rubs his thumb in circles lightly.
"So," Hatti says slowly, perhaps a little smugly, when she sets the box down and props a hand on her hip, "It's been about time I met a girl of yours Jess."
He hates that he feels a blush rise on his cheeks, doesn't look at Rory because then she'll look at him and he'll never live that down.
"Well," He shrugs, tries to play it off nonchalantly. "I never liked any of the others."
He feels Rory fight back a snort at the comment, sees Hatti roll her eyes but smile at him anyway.
"You like coffee, Rory?"
Rory nods, perhaps a little too eagerly, and Jess lets a snort out. "Really? You never mentioned."
He gets a jab to his ribs for his comment, and Hatti forces him to box up a few orders if he's going to be here whilst she and Rory disappear into the back. He hears them both laugh periodically as he tapes boxes up and he smiles to himself as he works.
Yeah, he can get used to Rory being around.
When Jess joined them a half-hour later, Rory's on her second mug of coffee alongside Hatti, and they're both laughing. He smiles at her when he sits beside her, drops an arm around her, and she's too busy feeling so stupidly happy she doesn't see the approving smile Hatti gives him.
"What've you been talking about, then?"
Hatti waves him off, "Just you."
"Oh, great." He deadpans, "I'm sure I won't be hearing the end of that at all then?"
"Not for a while." Rory supplies, squarks when he steals her mug and takes a sip. He winks at her over the rim and knocks their feet together. She likes him like this. She thought he had looked calm in Stars Hollow those nights, but it's nothing compared to how he relaxes into the couch now. There's another set of eyes on him and he doesn't seem to mind kissing her forehead or teasing her like they do in private.
Hatti had filled her in whilst he was working; she'd been around since he was ten, gave him a job when he was fifteen, tried to keep him out the house when he needed to be and gave him a roof over his head when he felt like he couldn't go back under his own. Rory tells her about Stars Hollow, about Luke and the extension he's put in on his apartment. It feels a little silly when this woman has been doing it for so long and she and Luke could barely keep him there for a full month, but Hatti had pulled her into a tight hug, cried a little and thanked her for keeping him out of trouble whilst she could. Rory gave her Luke's number so that they could talk should they need to, and then Hatti told her about Jess's first time on a bicycle when he was twelve and they started crying with laughter, immediately diving into stories of Jess that the other wasn't around for.
Hatti carries on, even now with Jess here, and Rory can see why Jess is so calm here. It's been barely an hour and she feels at home, doesn't question when Jess pulls her legs over his and they get comfier on the couch. He pours more coffees for them and immediately raises his arm when he sits down so Rory can curl back into him. His chest vibrates against her cheek when he laughs at Hatti's stories or argues against a story of when he was eleven and he claims he just didn't like that song nearly as much as Hatti claims.
"Well, as much as love your company, I've got work to do. Here," She hands Jess over a set of keys, doesn't elaborate. "You want off your shift tomorrow?"
"Nah, Rory likes to read, pretty sure she won't mind a few hours back here."
"I absolutely won't." She pipes up before he's even fully done talking and Hatti just looks at them both amused.
She nods, eventually, "Okay then, I'll see you both tomorrow. Don't forget to lock up after, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Ma'am."
He leads her through the streets and into a block of apartments. They take the elevator to the third floor and the second Jess unlocks the door to Hatti's apartment he's toeing his shoes off. "It's not a rule," He shrugs but Rory follows suit and unlaces her trainers, "I just don't want to get dirt on her carpets."
He cooks them some spaghetti and sauce for lunch, and Rory feels bad that she can't help because it's a known fact that the Gilmore girls are horrendous in the kitchen, but she butters some bread rolls when they pop out of the toaster anyway. It's a small kitchen so their shoulders and elbows keep knocking into each other, but when she's done with the bread he crowds her into one of the cabinets and kisses her until the food's ready, so she doesn't really mind how small it is. They eat out on the fire escape because Rory wants the full New York experience and Jess is all too happy but to provide.
Besides, Hatti has a nice apartment but it kind of stinks for that little boy still inside of him. He's always had a fire of jealousy in his stomach when others get nice things that he's never been offered, and, whilst he's happy Hatti moved out of the dump of apartments he's still stuck in, it still sucks that she got it together and Liz doesn't even want to try.
The weight of Rory leaning against his chest is comforting as they eat and she fills him in on what's been happening in Stars Hollow since he left. It's not much, just everybody babyproofing the town for Rory and walking on eggshells around her. "There was a riot against Luke closing earlier that night," He hears the effort it takes to keep her voice level and calm, hates that this what it's come to, "But he yelled at them at the town meeting when Taylor started talking about compensation and they all shut up about it."
"How is he?"
She closes her eyes and sighs when he puts his empty plate beside hers, kisses her cheek in the process, "He's okay," She says back. Her voice becomes gentle whenever she talks about Luke, even before the accident, so it's a familiar comfort this time around and doesn't make Jess want to apologize, "I think he's using the diner as a distraction."
Jess hums against her cheek, focuses on the way her fingers play with his on her stomach. This is nice, he thinks, decides he can get used to sitting with Rory here, out on the fire escape, just being.
"He and my mom are in a fight- or, were- I'm not sure what's happened since I came here," She's sad but still smiles small when he presses his lips to the corner of her mouth in comfort, "They fought about the accident. My mom just kind of blew up and Luke was just worried about finding you."
"He drove me to the station."
"I thought he would have. He let me stay when I ditched the party."
He cringes and she must have felt him tense because she turns to face him, throws her legs on either side of his hips so she's half straddling him. He hadn't forgotten about her birthday but tried to ignore the dates since he's been here because he didn't want to know when he was missing it.
"I said I'd be there."
"I understand why you weren't. I didn't even want to be there." She's playing with the hem of his tee-shirt, his fingers are plucking at the hem of his Metallica shirt that she's wearing. He sees what Luke means when he says it's ratty and old, there's a hole in the collar and the fabric is thinning in some places, but it's never looked better than when it's on Rory.
"Do you want to call your mom?" He asks again, knows that she should but doesn't want to push her if she doesn't feel like talking. He's the poster-child for not talking to your mother but, even if he's always admired the way Rory and Lorelai are so close, he'd let Rory wait it out for the night if she wants to. Calling from Hatti's probably isn't the best idea anyway, because then Lorelai might think this is where they're staying and then that'll cause problems if Hatti picks up and says they're not. The phone reception is pretty bad at Jess's, but it'll make do.
Rory shakes her head again, "It can wait."
He very much likes how she distracts him by leaning forward and pressing their mouths together. He's pretty sure he'll never get over the feeling of kissing her - at least, he never wants to get over it. She shifts forward and, with the help of Jess's hands on her hips, gets settled on his lap properly this time. Jess has to tilt his neck back a bit to keep kissing her and it kind of hurts after a while but she has one hand on his cheek and the other giving his hair little tugs, and he'd be damned if he's going to be the one stopping this. She's making breathless little sounds into his mouth and becomes bolder the longer this goes on, bites his bottom lip as he'd done with her's countless times, gives a smug little smirk when he lets slip a quiet moan.
It hits him, then, that they're alone and there's no threat of anyone interrupting them anytime soon. Rory's smart enough to stop him whenever she wants but he's still the one who (much to his displeasure, he just said he didn't want to stop) has to pull away because as nice as an apartment as this is, they're on the fire escape and this Hatti's, not his. Her lips, red and swollen, pout at him a little and he almost lets himself get lost in another kiss until he finds his bearings again.
"Come on," She does the dishes whilst he throws away all the trash from dinner and puts leftover food in Tubber-ware containers in Hatti's fridge. He kind of hates how domestic this is, him and Rory moving around each other to put away dishes and cleaning up, but he also weirdly likes it too. In Hatti's apartment, it's so easy to pretend that this is normal; that this is what they've been doing the entire time, what they'll carry on doing. Except, Jess knows that it isn't. Too soon, they're pulling their shoes back on and locking up. Jess puts the key on top of the door frame, kicks the potted plant next to the door a little to the left to make it look like that's where the key is - he'd seen Liz do it when he was a kid, except Liz really did start leaving the key there and told everyone her little trick and they kept getting broken into.
Rory watches him and he can't read what she's thinking as they sit thigh-to-thigh on the subway. He tells her that he's rereading The Fountainhead (again) and listens as she speels off a list of things he might gloss over because it's 'dumb' but it's important, Jess, it's really important and she's still talking about it by the time he reaches his apartment. He doesn't trust the elevator so he'd dragged her up seven flights of stairs and hoped Liz had actually forgotten to lock the door this time.
She had, in fact, left it unlocked and even left the key right there on the floor just inside the apartment. He shoves it in his pocket before he could forget, feels a little more comfortable now he knows he doesn't need to climb in through the fire escape again, especially with Rory here.
It's a little disturbing how quiet she is when she steps in after him. She goes to take her shoes off as they did at Hatti's, but he stops her with a hand on her elbow. "Probably best not to," He says and he knows he looks a little embarrassed, is actually mortified at the state of the place now that someone as good as Rory is standing in the midst of it. He doesn't try to explain further and she, blessedly, doesn't question it.
He hurries into the kitchen to make them a coffee. He doesn't really want one but he needs to get his hands preoccupied with something and he doesn't want to see Rory's face when she sees the carpet stains or the litter of vodka bottles by Liz's armchair. The apartment isn't that big so it doesn't take her more than a few moments to join him in the kitchen. She puts a hand to the small of his back and pours the milk into their mugs, kisses his shoulder as he stirs them. She doesn't normally have milk, not unless she's tired and wants to dull down the caffeine a little. It's only one in the afternoon but Jess is convinced they can both do with a nap after the week they've had. He leads the way to his room, grabs her bag from the front door, and sets it by his bed.
His bedroom isn't anything special. It's half the size of hers and nowhere near as nice. He winces as he notices the unmade bed, if he had known he would have bumped into her not even ten minutes after leaving his apartment this morning, he would have thrown on some clean sheets and made the damn thing. He has no bedside table, just stacks of books around the room because Liz's money never even looked in the direction of a bookcase, and Jess isn't that bothered by it. His wardrobe is really the only other piece of furniture, besides a small desk, that could fit in here anyway.
"It's very you," Rory says behind him. When he turns around she's looking at the books on the floor and the posters on the wall. Her knee hits the mattress when takes a step into his chest, the hand not holding her coffee going around his waist. Her cast feels solid and heavy against his back and her back feels warm and soft against his arm.
"Would it be rude to take a nap?" She murmurs into his collarbone and he's already shaking his head, pulling back to take her coffee from her and put it on the windowsill next to his. When she untucks the shirt from her jeans, the hem falls to her midthigh. She's looking at him a little unsure.
"Do you want some sweatpants?" Please say no, please say no.
Shyly (and god isn't that doing something for him) she shakes her head. No. He has to swallow to stop himself from making a joke, decides to just nod, doesn't know if it'd be weirder to watch her unbutton her jeans or turn around so he can't see. Turns out, unbuttoning jeans is a little trickier than normal with her wrist situation, and (even shyer good god) she looks at him after failing twice, "Can you help?"
Jess definitely likes that question, tries not to let it show when he steps forward and flicks the button undone with his thumb. Her cheeks are pink and she's biting her lip and yeah okay Jess is excited. Before he can think about moving away again, his thumbs are cradled in her belt loops and she's leaning up a little to kiss him. It's slow and brilliant and the only time he lets her mouth move from his is when she's helping get his shirt over his head and onto the floor. Her jeans catch onto her legs and she turns red until he chuckles against her mouth and gets them onto the floor beside his shirt. They crawl into bed and if he thought her hands were warm and soft they're nothing compared to her thighs when he hitches her further up the mattress.
Her cast scratches a little painfully against his back when she trials her fingers over his skin but he doesn't mind, is just focusing on Rory because she's making those little breathless sounds again from before and they sound ten times better considering the change in location. All too suddenly she's pulling away and he's a little put out by it until he sees her wincing around where her teeth are embedded into her bottom lip.
"Sorry, did I-"
"No, no!" She's quick to caress his cheek in her good hand, gives a little signal to her cast, "I just must have forgotten to take my painkillers on the bus. It's kind of catching up to me now. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. They in your bag?"
She nods and he can finally breathe properly when he gets up to retrieve them. The pill bottle looks too much like the ones in Liz's medical cabinet that doctors keep giving her but she never uses, and he can't look at it for too long before handing them to Rory, registers though that the bottle's half empty because Rory listens to instructions. Her hands her coffee because he doesn't have anything else she can take the pills with, and chuckles when she gags at the fact that, in the time they've been distracted, it's gone cold.
"You want to take that nap?"
She nods, covering a yawn with her cast and leaning back against his pillows. He stands to close the curtains but they're shitty and only block a little of the light. When he turns back, Rory's trying to get under the covers and he spots a flash of underwear and hip where her shirt rides up. He rids himself of his own jeans, intends to find some sweatpants but then Rory's reaching for him tiredly from his bed, and nothing else matters.
It's a small bed so she ends up half on top of him once they're comfy. Her legs are warm against his and she only blushes a little when she moves her thigh and their hips slot together. It's painfully obvious that he got excited during their make-out session just moments ago and he thinks she's going to say something but presses a kiss to her lips and shushes her before she can.
"Get some sleep, Ror."
She falls asleep before him, maybe a result of the painkillers, and he lies awake for a little while playing with her hair before he closes his eyes, too.
When Rory wakes up it takes her a moment to find her bearings. The corners of the room are dark and the middle is a pale gray-blue. It's apparent she's slept for most of the afternoon and it's beginning to get dark outside. There's a murmur into her collar and then she feels Jess against her.
Jess. New York. Right.
She remembers falling asleep on him, but they've shifted during their nap and now he's asleep against her. Their legs are entwined and their hips are still pressed together (Rory blushes even though it's dark and he can't see it and it's natural Gilmore, get it together) but he's nestled himself lower than he was before, his lips brushing against her neck whenever he breathes, one arm still under her head. Her one thigh is slung over his hip and his other arm is curled around it, fingers flirting with the band of her underwear at her hip.
The shrill ringtone of her mobile cuts into the silence of her room and she jolts towards it, manages to flip it open to effectively cut off the ringtone before Jess wakes up. He's been jostled by her movements, mumbles grumpily before burying his head under his pillow. Rory waits with bated breath until his back rises and falls with sleeping breaths before she crawls out onto the fire escape behind his curtains. She saw the way he tensed up when they walked into his apartment, the way he remained tense until they were in his room with the door bolted. Guesses he doesn't want her meeting Liz alone whilst he's unconscious to the world.
Paris is already talking when she presses the phone to her ear. "-and then I hear you just disappeared? To New York, Rory. I swear, if this an internship with The Times you applied for without telling me there was even an option I'll-"
"Paris, I came to see Jess."
There's a pause, then a dumbfounded, "Oh." Other than when she cried in her room to her and Lane, Rory can't remember Paris ever being speechless.
She's a little worried the phone's disconnected, "Paris?"
"No, yeah, here," Paris rushes, "Just surprised. Why didn't you say you were going?"
"Bit of a last-minute kind of deal," Rory sits on one of the steps of the fire escape leading upwards, hugs her knees to her chest. It's October and she's only wearing a thin band tee despite it being close to freezing outside. "I just... needed to see him."
"We have a test on Wednesday." She still sounds so dumbfounded, if the severity of the reason why Rory came all this way wasn't so high she would be laughing right now at Paris's reaction.
"But Monday and Tuesday we have off. I'll be back before the test."
"We had study plans."
"Paris I got into a car accident and I'm trying to fix a relationship that ended before it began over here."
"Right, yes, sorry. It's just- how is he?"
Rory sighs, "He's Jess. He didn't want me to know about what it's like for him in New York and then suddenly I up and follow him here without warning. He's... opening up. We're both working on letting each other in."
"Well, you have my number and I know you're not stupid enough to forget 911 if anything goes haywire. You sound tired, are you tired? Did you pack your medication? You know that doctor knows what he's talking-"
"Paris I have them, it's okay," She lets herself laugh a bit, "Jess and I took a nap and I just woke up before you called. Everything's fine. I'll call if I need anything."
"Good."
"Can you give this number to Lane?" Her parents had gotten her the new cell phone for her birthday, despite nothing being wrong with her old one. The only person with her number is Paris, not even Lorelai knows it. She'll probably find the box for it in her room with the leaflet with her number, try and phone. Rory's not ready to talk to her mom yet. Plus, she's eighteen now and she needed to do this, even if her mom can't see that.
"Sure, you'll call tomorrow right? A check-in?"
"Sure, Paris. Thanks..." She hesitates a little. Her friendship with Paris has definitely changed since that night she cried over Jess and it seems a little odd to thank her over it, but she finishes it lamely with, "For everything."
"Don't go soft on me now, Gilmore."
"Won't ever happen again, Geller."
Paris hangs up and Rory watches the skyline for a few moments, likes the way that the colors of the sunset bleed against the buildings in a way Stars Hollow can just never compete with. Her mom and she had been to Manhatten a few times, would drive back to Connecticut when the sun would start to set and this was always her favorite part; watching the sun slowly seep down into the tops of the buildings and out of sight.
The curtains rustle and Jess leans his elbows out, raises an eyebrow in a silent question. "You left the bed." If she wanted to tease him, she could point out the hint of a whine in his voice.
"Paris called."
"Oh, was that what that was?"
She hums, takes his hand as she climbs back into his room and he tugs her with him as he walks back to his bed. It's difficult for her to keep her eyes off his chest but his eyes are just as nice to look at and she's conflicted. She refuses to let her eyes dip any further than his elbows because then she'd start blushing all over again and she really needs to get a handle on that. Jess had always looked amused whenever he found out just how far her innocence extended to in Stars Hollow, but today he'd been nothing but soothing when the nature of his body was made clear to her.
He settles back into bed, pulls her on top, and sighs into the junction where her shoulder connects to her neck, presses a hot, open-mouthed kiss there as Rory gets herself comfy again. "We slept for a while," She mumbles, letting her fingers trail back to his hair. It seems to be a sure-fire way of getting him sleepy when she plays with it like this.
He hums this time, noses up her neck, and slots their lips together. She shifts a little to get them level so the kiss isn't awkward, stiffens a little when Jess groans as she brushes their hips together accidentally and his grip on her sides tighten. He makes to pull away but Rory realizes she likes this. They're alone and the only thing right now that could bother them is her cellphone but they could always ignore that. She likes the way Jess just makes her feel comfortable through this all, the way he's holding himself back because they haven't discussed this at all but she's not complaining now. She pushes down onto him, brings their mouths back together, and bites his bottom lip a little.
"Ror."
"Jess."
"You gotta tell me when you want to stop."
There's only a moment's hesitation before she answers. She was always convinced she would never have to worry about this until she was well into college; always promised her mom she'd talk about it to her when she felt she was ready. But her mom's not here and Jess is and she really doesn't want to think about her mom right now. She sits upon his hips, his hands follow hers up her sides as she pulls his shirt over her head and drops it to the floor.
"I don't want you to stop."
They lay together in bed a while later and don't have to utter a word. There's a thin sheen of sweat on the both of them, but Rory's cradled under Jess's arm, against his chest and she's playing with his hand whilst he plays with her hair.
"We need to eat at some point," He points out, lets his hand fall from her hair to her back; drags his middle finger down the groove of her spine until she shivers and presses closer.
She murmurs an agreement into his shoulder and squeezes his hand in hers, "I want Mexican."
"There's a place two blocks over if you want to walk."
She groans and shakes her head into his chest, making him laugh. "No walking. No out of bed."
"Well, Ror I think the delivery guy's going to have something to say about this."
She swats at his shoulder and lets him roll them over to kiss her. "Okay," She says, "Let's go for a walk."