This is the last part of a love story between Jessie of Once & Again and Rory of Gilmore Girls. The previous part is here.

You can also get it at the Gilmore Girls Slash site. The lesbian stories are based upon characters from The Gilmore Girls TV series.

The author is Amy from Australia. Amy goes by the name of Rocx Mblover. If you like the story send Amy your appreciation at [email protected]

Title: Rain, Rory & Romance Part 3 of 3

Author: rocxmblover (Amy from Australia)

Pairing: Rory/Jessie (Gilmore Girls/Once & Again)

Disclaimer: GG belongs to Amy and Marciano... I mean, GG sadly belongs to Amy Sherman-Paladino and the WB folks. Ok woman, sucky US channel. The character of Jessie/Jess is owned by the Once & Again creators, you all know that... unless you hated the show. Which, excluding Miss Wood and her character, means me. I think it was a Sela Ward thing. Anyways...

Rating: Uh... you'll have to read it to find out! ;-) Lets just say, some will be happy and horny after reading this.

Notes: This is the third in the series and its apparent that it's a good idea that you read the other two first so you KNOW what the hell it is I'm attempting to write. Things start looking up for the two main characters... yeah to me. This is probably the last story regarding these two for a while because I want to concentrate on my Lorelai/Monica Reyes story. It's a jumble as I don't know how to write from start to finish. Some of the lyrics from The White Stripes song 'You've got her in your pocket' are here... the words went with the story so I included them. Great song, great album, great band.

Feedback: Feedback is welcome, just don't reduce me to tears. This is my email: [email protected]

Part 3: Romance.

The smile on your face made her think she had the right one,
then she thought she was sure by the way you two could have fun
But now you're scared, you think she's running away,
you search in your head for something clever to say
Don't go away...

And in your own mind, you know you're lucky just to know her,
and in the beginning all you wanted was to show her
But now she might leave, like she's threatened before,
grab hold of her fast, before her feet leave the floor
and she's out the door...

Jess...
I want to run home.

As much as I hate the place, I'd rather be there than sitting frozen, unable to move while she looks at me through the windscreen of her mother's jeep.

I'd rather be standing in front of the entire population of Stars Hollow High after outing myself, anywhere but here on the front steps of the Gilmore house, trying desperately to look away from the girl I'm in love with.

The only thing I can manage to do is bring my hand to my face and absently wipe a few tears away, catching the heat of my cheeks against my freezing fingertips.

At this time, she's the warm caring half of our friendship whereas I'm the scared and messed up other piece. I can blame that as much as I like on the move here, the people around me and my mother who seems to be getting further from me every day, but it all comes back to me. I could blame it on Katie, who made me realise I was different from the rest of the girls at school, but there is no denying to myself that I wasn't the one who fell into this position.

I've spent six months of my life hating everyone that came my way and I cant undo any of my actions or take back any of my words to them. I'm so tired of being lost and alone. I want someone to tell me I'm okay and that I am going to be all right. I want someone to tell me I'll be fine and mean it, so I'd have a chance to believe it myself. If someone had faith in me, maybe I'd have enough guts to turn this situation around and convince this town that my intentions are good.

Am I a bigger critic of myself than Luke or Lorelai? It would be a close match because all they've ever seen of me is my angry selfish side. They don't know that I'm different to that so they wont be the first people to say 'hey, you're a good person and we trust you with Rory'. Still, I'm so tired and sick of myself that my conscience hasn't even got something decent to say about me.

All I can think of is how I want things to be. I can't conceive of how I'm going to fix it all so it's the way I need it to be and this reminds me all over again that I've failed in growing up and taking responsibility for myself.

I want to forget it all and sleep.

Rory...
I want to run.

I don't know where to, but I'd rather be anywhere else than sitting here, frozen in place, pleading with myself to look away from the girl I've fallen in love with.

I'd rather be at one of my grandparents functions loudly outing myself than be here outside my house, staring at the one person that's been able to make me love her.

Maybe we're too quiet and secretive for our own good. It keeps both of us from knowing each other and the people around us the way we should. There seems to be a barrier building between Mum and me that was never there before Jess arrived and I'm scared to death that it's the beginning of the relationship she has with Grandma. I'm petrified that the distance between us will grow further when I tell her that I've fallen for Jess, because the two are so obnoxious to one another. I know my mother and she'll eventually get over the 'my daughter's batting for the home side' thing but the fact that Jess is involved will annoy her terribly and she'll vent that annoyance into a blatant refusal to be apart of my life until I'm back to 'normal'.

For the last six months I've played along with the rules in my life that I've installed on my own but all that achieved was this heartache I'm feeling now. I've wasted half a year living in denial that everything was Patty Duke fine and I cant get that used up time back. I've spent six months with a guy I don't love who's all for me and I've stolen and encouraged a bad boy's attention at the same time.

I don't know how to fix my life so it's the way I want it to be. I don't even think I have the energy to tell Dean that we're over, inform Mum of my feelings, and have the courage to chase after Jess. Unfortunately I have enough spirit left in me to worry myself sick about the future and I guess the fear of losing Jess takes physical advantage over me, forcing my body to get out of the car on weary legs.

Jess...
As soon as she stepped out of the jeep, my body made me stand up on shaky legs. I frowned at this and caught her with the same expression on her face, making me wonder whether it was me that she was distressed about. I had the sudden longing to know what she was thinking and how she feels, and this desperate need made me feel like I was going to fall down on the spot.

I took a chance and pulled my eyes away from her frown to look at her mother. I couldn't read her face and the look remains a mystery to me, although I question whether she even knows how to feel about my friendship with her daughter.

Rory walked toward me on the porch stairs and I grabbed the railing as unsuspiciously as possible, leaning my weight on it. I knew how she usually walked and there was a strange stiffness in her stroll. I realised that she was indeed concerned about me and that made my heart sink. My knees went weak consequently and I let myself slide back down into a sitting position, feeling my face redden.

"Are you okay?" Rory whispered, grabbing a hold of my arm as she sat down next to me.

The heat from her hand had spread to my cold fingers and back up my arm and I shook at the temperature change.

"Jess?"

Rory...
"I'm okay." Jess stated quietly.

"You're cold." I said, stating the obvious.

"How long have you been here?" Mum asked suddenly and I tightened my hold on Jess's arm.

"I don't know. My watch broke." Jess said quickly.

"Well, I'll buy you one myself if it means you don't freeze to death outside MY house."

"Mum... " I started, knowing that the two were going to start their usual barrage of insults.

"Rory, it's alright. I just wanted to have a quick word, that's all." Jess explained calmly.

"Good, because I don't want to find out my daughter has become Mr Freeze overnight."

"Wow... I think your daughter's more likely to become the Governor of California." Jess smirked, and I pulled a face at Mum. She gawked her eyes at me and smiled fakely at Jess, stepping up onto the first porch step.

"I'll be inside in a moment Mum."

"You've got 5 minutes... you'd better start talking Jess."

Mum continued up the stairs and slid a hand along my shoulder as she passed us, and I looked up quickly and smiled.

"Whew." Jess mumbled on purpose.

"Hey... I heard that." Mum said and I chuckled noiselessly at Jess, calming down a minute after the front door shut. My heart was racing from the tingling feeling in my hand that held Jess's arm and I knew that I'd have to tell her my feelings sooner than I thought. Id planned to plan the weekend around that moment, but now it was suddenly upon me and I didn't know if I had the guts to follow through with it.

I snuck a look her way and found her with a faraway gaze in her eyes, an expression that seemed so familiar to me, like it was permanently drawn into her facial features.

Jess...
Rory is looking at me through the corner of her eyes while I pretend I'm staring into the night. It's become a part of our schedule, these silent uncomfortable pauses in time. A whole hour passed last Tuesday night in a deafening silence and it hurt to sit so quietly, so motionless next to the person who could wake me up.

"What's wrong?" Her voice reaches into my drifting mind and I realise that my face must've shifted in thought, changed to a more harmful glare that I did not notice.

"Apart from the cold?" I avoided the question on purpose.

"Yes, apart from the weather." She pulled her hand from my arm and leant forward, arms crossed and elbows resting on her knees.

"I don't know... guess I had to get out of the house." I whispered honestly.

"To sit in this shitty wind with no warm clothes on for God knows how long, just for something to do?"

I shrugged to myself and looked down into my lap, feeling ashamed. A chill flew up my back and I leant forward in a shivering attack, feeling the edge of my jeans skim Rory's knee.

"Is it your Mum?" Rory inquired.

"It's me."

"What have you done? Robbed the Pancake Parlour?"

"No... just thought... " I paused and stretched my fingers in an effort to wake them up, not knowing how to continue. She was pulling the truth out of me like usual, but it felt like I was relieved she was doing it.

"Jess, you know me. You can talk to me about anything you know... but you know I won't push it out of you either."

I smiled gratefully at her and she knocked my knee playfully with her own, bring a half smile to my face.

"Okay... come on." She stood up and turned toward me on the step, holing out her hand slowly. I hesitated and she dropped it back to her side, a sigh escaping her.

"Mum's probably fallen asleep, but you can still sneak through the window."

"I hate doing that." I complained.

"You just hate it because you always miss the sill and fall on your face." Rory exclaimed lightly.

"You're right." I had landed hard on my elbow the last time I was here and the bruise was just beginning to fade. It was Lorelai's fault. I wasn't allowed in the Gilmore house initially, but Rory had a way of convincing me otherwise and that had resulted in a near fist fight with her mother. I don't know how Lorelai found out that I'd been sneaking in, but it was a shock that she didn't mention it to Rory. I didn't have the heart to tell her she'd been busted.

"Rory... your Mum doesn't want me in her house." I whispered, and I caught a hint of sadness in my voice that seemed to unnerve Rory. It was obvious that she wanted me to get along with her mother, but I think I might've undervalued this dream of hers, thinking it was impossible for her to want it more than me.

"Jess... you make me not care. You're not the juvenile delinquent you seem to be."

"Why thank you. I think I've stolen everything that interests me from your house already anyway."

"Ha ha. Come on Bob, you can read to me." She ushered her hand toward me again and I took it carefully, her skin warm in the cold night. I felt the buzz of being in contact with her once more, and smiled to myself that for a moment, a second in time, I had her.

Rory...
"So... I told you so. Mum's was nowhere to be found." I said, sliding open my bedroom window for Jess.

"Still... is there a need for your light to be on?" Jess pondered out aloud, bending down and looking at me through the opening of the window frame.

"Yeah... so you don't break your neck in the dark... I'LL be grounded for life."

"Too bad about me and my neck then." Jess smiled, and I stood up straight and stepped away from the window so she had room to climb through. There was something romantic about her entering the house this way, like we were two forbidden lovers spending our last night together. I lost the thought as Jess misjudged the height of the window, dragging her back across the wood frame and I had to hold back a laugh as I steadied her balance. She smiled gratefully, letting go of my hold and wincing in pain, regaining some composure while rubbing her back.

"Ouch?" I asked, reaching around her to shut the window and lock it.

"Much," Jess replied, "and don't think I don't know you were secretly laughing at that."

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing." I said.

"Yeah right... and I'm the tooth fairy." Jess smirked, stepping away from me towards my bed. She sat down near the edge, stretching her back to relieve the dull pain I imagined was surfacing. I walked around my bed towards the door and hit the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. Jess muttered something under her breath and I tried looking at her through the black of the night, unable to adjust my eyes quick enough. I felt my way to the bed and sat down, reaching for my bedside table lamp and brightening up the area between my pillow and Jess.

"So... what are we reading tonight? Or this morning?" Jess questioned as I leaned forward to undo my heels.

"Gertrude Stein?" I said flatly, fiddling with the buckles on both my shoes.

"I don't think so... that woman's work is dangerous when in the wrong hands."

"So is Ed Gein's biography." I replied and looked around to see Jess poking her tongue out at me.

"You know, to be honest, I'm not really in the mood for reading." Jess whispered, looking down at her hands. I followed her gaze and saw that she was nervously striking her knuckles together.

"Okay... I've kinda had a weird night anyway." I slipped out of my heels and spun on the bed so I was facing her, one leg tucked under the other."

"What happened? Was your mother talking to the carrots again?"

"Ha... it's not really important. Well, not as important as the reason why you're here."

"Oh there's no real significance for me being here. I just figured I'd come and say hi."

"In the dark at midnight? We'll go through it again. You weren't just over here to give me your greetings... I can tell by that." I reached over and held my hand over both of Jess's, stopping her fiddling and surprising myself at the same time.

"I'm okay... really." Jess mechanically replied.

"Say it a couple more times and you'll have me believing it."

We sat in silence for a moment, acutely aware that I was still holding her hands. The trees outside blew in the wind while the house made the occasional creak. This was beginning to be one of those dreadful silences I couldn't stand but couldn't prevent. I wasn't going to let it happen tonight though and I sat up in response.

"Thing is Jess, I have something to discuss with you... so I thought I just wanted to know if you... well if you were in the right mind. It's kinda... "

"Got you tongue-tied?" Jess suggested. "Sounds like we switched bodies."

"And it is Friday. Can we switch back please, because my heads been in a constant jumble lately and I don't like it."

"I don't like it either." Jess said.

"You give the impression that you don't really care."

"Well I do. It's not very nice, is it?"

"No. Like someone's taken a blender to my head."

Jess laughed loudly, and I chuckled along with her, squeezing her hands gently. She abruptly silenced herself and regarded me closely, like she was trying to discover something new in me that she had never seen before. I didn't know what it was that she was looking for, but I silently observed her back, feeling that now familiar warmth returning to my body.

Jess...
I wondered how Rory's eyes could be getting bluer every time she allowed me to gaze into them. It was a wonder to me why she was still holding my fingers, and why I hadn't moved away from the touch either. This harmony was compelling and I yawned visibly.

"You're right." She whispered to me.

"Right about what?" I asked, puzzled.

"The yawning."

"Oh... what about me yawning?"

"It's late. Too late to read and too late for you to go home."

"You're suggesting I stay the night?" I said, gawking a moment before recovering some composure. "I mean, I stay here and promptly get caught by your Neo Nazi mother in the morning?"

"Sounds like fun for you. I doubt you'll get any sleep anyway."

"That depends on how comfortable and fluffy your couch is." I declared. "Who said anything about the couch?" Rory said quickly, and I knew she was going to laugh in a moment, chuckle herself silly over her stupid comment. I waited for it but it never came and I looked at her, wondering what was happening. She swallowed hard and I noticed the coldness of the room again and the thickness of the air in here.

I saw the same expression on her face that always greeted me in the mirror � the face of questionable love - and my breath hitched in realisation that her feelings for me were a carbon copy of my own. In that second I was undecided on whether to inwardly jump for joy or cry in shock, but it didn't matter because she leaned forward and I instinctively followed her lead, meeting her halfway.

Her kiss was gentle at first, like she didn't trust her own lips to control themselves. I kissed her slowly back, silently telling her that this was what I wanted as well. She leaned into the kiss a bit more and I opened my mouth in response, the passion growing between us as my hands guided Rory's to my waist. Her hands roamed around to my back, pulling me closer, and I fumbled into a better position on my knees as we explored each others mouths.

I pulled away and opened my eyes to look down at her, taking a few breaths. She looked back up at me with love in her eyes and I smiled.

"Lay me back down on the bed." Rory said, kissing me passionately and I wrapped one hand around her back, easing her down to her pillow. Her arms pulled me to her so I was lying along the length of her body, a position I never thought I'd be in.

Rory...
I don't know whether this is the right time or whether I'm even ready to experience this. I feel it in my heart though that I want it to be with Jess and this seems like the only defining factor in my decision to let her make love to me. She is what matters to me and I know that I have loved her more than I have ever loved anyone in my 17 years here. This is both frightening and enlightening, but something I promise myself not to worry about.

Jess's light kisses on my neck bring me back to reality then and I entangled my fingers in her blonde hair, pushing my thoughts away.

Jess...
I kissed and tasted each newly exposed area of skin as I unbuttoned Rory's blouse, memorising the feel of her against my lips and under my hands. She was letting me set the pace and I gladly took the lead, my hands fluttering around her body in urgency. I wanted to kiss every part of her, to feel every inch of her skin underneath my fingertips.

She moaned quietly when my hand found her nipple and I shifted up the bed to passionately kiss her, our lips moulding around themselves. My other hand slid down to the zip of her skirt, cautiously dragging it down to remove another piece of the barrier between us.

Rory...
My breathing caught in my chest at the first contact of our naked bodies and Jess looked down at me a second later, stopping to silently ask if I was okay.

I answered by reaching for her right hand and guiding it down my body, my eyes holding hers all the way. Jess smiled and I let go of her hand, wrapping my arm back around her waist as she slipped in between my legs. We found each others lips and passionately kissed, the heat between us increasing.

Jess...
I was aware of the pounding of my heart and the sound of Rory's voice as I moved in and out of her, her body in a wild frenzy beneath me. My lips and free hand were all over the place, trying to explore every part of Rory while the sound of my name escaping her lips spurred me on, pushing me to give her a little more, to increase the already ferocious motions of my fingers.

Then I felt it. Rory's body arched up into my hand and tensed, her breath lost to her, and for an unknown amount of time I lost all conscious thought, simply feeling the wave of love hit Rory and me. She bucked one last time before we both collapsed, taking sharp breaths together. I slowed my fingers as Rory's inner movements subsided and absently kissed her shoulder, feeling the tears spring quietly from my eyes.

Rory...
I gently kissed Jess's head in between calming breaths, coaxing her to look at me. Her teary eyes seemed the colour of the sky then and I smiled gently at her, overcome by a surge of emotion that I had never felt before. There were no words for it and I knew that I'd never be able to find them for Jess.

So I tenderly kissed her instead.

END