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There he was, brooding disposition and all, just like she knew he would be.
Rory wasn’t quite sure what she was doing here. This was definitely not planned, stalking a boy she barely knew in the middle of the night, but sometimes these things just happen. She had heard someone leave their room, and peaked out into the hallway just in time to see a tuft of dark curls and a khaki jacket sneak down the stairs. So naturally, having been rereading Hounds of Baskerville, she decided to follow the suspect and sleuth around.
While the idea originally sounded totally appropriate and normal at the time, Rory was now crouching down behind the bushes, watching Jess light up next to the stables, realizing the extent of her own insanity.
Two more minutes pass before Rory can build up enough confidence to actually make herself known.
"You know second hand smoke is just as bad for horses as it is for humans," she teases, walking towards the stable and the boy.
Jess jumps at the sudden intrusion, straightening up from where he was leaning against the wall, eyes wide in fear. However, this pose lasts only for a second, before he realizes who it is and returns to his lax, too-cool-for-school facade, a half smile resting on his face.
Rory giggles.
"Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you."
"Yeah, sure." He rolls his eyes. "You just happened to be out for your usual 2am stroll?"
Crap. How is she going to explain this?
"Umh… yes actually. Someone needs to, uh, check on the horses throughout the night, and I, uh, got stuck with the job?"
Why did she end that as a question? Smooth, Gilmore. Real smooth.
"I’m sure Ed and Seabiscuit can look out for each other," he eyes her suspiciously.
"Oh yes, but who’s going to take care of Boxer and Little Blackie?" she quickly responds.
"Interesting choices. I would’ve never pegged you for the western type."
"I’m not… but True Grit is a classic. Plus, it’s not like you’re all ‘put ‘em up’ and what not, but you still got the reference," she quips.
He just smiles at her, that same half smile that she’s been thinking about for days. His is not the smile she should be thinking about, though. It should be Dean’s. Dean is her boyfriend and that means she can’t think about any other boy’s smile. Just his, not Jess’s. And yet…
Rory takes a defensive pose, crossing her arms across her chest and lifting her shoulders, attempting to keep herself warm in the chilly, winter night.
"No jacket? Or are you just trying out the Igor look?" he questions, noticing her sudden resemblance to a hunchback.
No, she was in too much of a hurry following a guy who was not her boyfriend to grab one.
"Nope, I forgot it."
"S’okay. Take mine."
Jess sticks the cigarette in his mouth and before she can say anything, he’s shrugging off his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. It smells like smoke and Luke’s and Rory hates how much she likes it.
When she finally finds her voice, she asks, “Won’t you be cold?”
Jess simply waves the cigarette, now back in his hand, as if it were an obvious solution.
For all Rory knew, it was. She couldn’t say whether or not smoking really warms the body, never having done it herself. But she takes his word for it, if only for an excuse to keep his jacket a little longer.
"You really shouldn’t smoke those, you know. They’re incredibly bad for you."
"But they make me look oh so cool," he rebuttaled sarcastically, taking another puff of the butt and exhaling away from Rory’s face. She tries her best to mimic one of his smirks, which just makes him laugh.
"Trust me, your not the first to warn me, though I wouldn’t be surprised if you were. When I first got here, Luke bought me all the nicotine patches and pills he could find in that godforsaken market. All to no avail."
Rory could understand. She doesn’t think any less of him for smoking, doesn’t blame him for not wanting to quit. It makes him human, as weaknesses tend to do. Everyone has a weakness… it doesn’t mean they are any less themselves. And every once in a while, the weakness turns out to be a angel in disguise, what the person really needs.
"Sometimes we like things even though we know they’re bad for us," Rory states, locking eyes with the beautiful boy standing just across from her. Neither one smiles, but the crinkle in the corner of his eyes tells her all she needs to know and everything she fears is true.
"I blame the goddamn nicotine."