Rory and Jess: Everything fixed

Fire in the rain

Rory's POV

In my head I was counting the seconds till he would get into his car and leave. But instead he just stood there, right in front of me, looking at me with a dead serious face.

"Im not leaving until you say something this time." He said as if he could read my mind.

I didn't think this through. Why did I ask him if he still loved me? I just had to know, but now that I have the answer I hoped for, I didn't know what to do with it.

He still loves me? Did I still love him? I thought I didn't, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I just always tried to ignore my feelings for Jess, because I didn't know how to deal with them. It was all just very confusing. But it doesn't even matter what my feelings for him are anymore, because it's too late now anyway.

"Okay fine. I have loved you, Jess, for a pretty long time. And who knows maybe I still do. I don't know. What I do know is that I don't have the time to figure it out now."

I sort of yelled it at him, but it wasn't because I was mad at him. I was mad at myself for not realizing my feelings sooner.

"Timing isn't really our strongest point clearly."

"Just when we both finally seem to have fixed everything. We both finally got our lives put together. Just for me to have to leave right after. I guess it's what you said before. It's what it is. You. Me."

I couldn't really tell how he felt. His face expressed so many different emotions. Disappointment and sadness, but also some sort of relief. The situation was bittersweet. He now finally knew I still had feelings for him, but we still couldn't be together. I just felt a lot frustration that me leaving meant it would definitely be over between me and Jess. The only solution would be for me to stay.

There was a moment of silence, as we both awkwardly looked down. Me mulling over what I should do and him probably thinking what to say. He let out a big sigh before he started to speak again.

"But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so proud of you Rory. You have to go off to the campaign trail. It's such an amazing opportunity."

And that was the difference between him and Logan. Right there. And he was right. I should go, this was too important. I looked away at the realization that there really wasn't a right solution and tried to hold back my tears.

"And I'll be here when you get back." He said after a few seconds.

I immediately looked up in pure confusion. I stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"I've already waited for you a long time. Might as well wait a little longer right?" He chuckled and nervously put his hands in his pockets.

"I don't even know how long I'll be gone for. It could be months, maybe even years. I can't ask you to wait for me. No, I can't ask you to do that."

"Okay so don't ask me. I'll still be right here when you get back."

It was the most romantic thing he could have said and I knew he meant it, I saw it in his eyes.

"You'd really do that for me?"

"You know, there are a lot of things in life not worth waiting for. But you're surely not one of them."

We just stood there smiling at each other. Suddenly, I realized how close we actually were standing  to each other under that umbrella. He was right in front of me, close enough for me to kiss that crooked smile.

He thought the same thing because he got his hands out of his pockets and placed one on my lower back. His other hand moved up to my face to softly hold my cheek. His touch made me feel weak. I was still holding the umbrella with both my hands, unable to wrap my hands around his neck. We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment until he pulled me closer and slowly leaned in to kiss me.

I didn't hesitate for a second and immediately melted into the kiss. Feeling his lips on mine brought back so many memories from times when life was easier. And it just felt right, it felt like home.

For me to deepen the kiss, I had to let go of the umbrella with at least one hand. So that's what I did and I moved my hand up to his cold shoulder, still wet from the rain, and then wrapped it behind his neck so I could pull him closer. I let my fingers brush through his hair, hardly believing this was actually happening.

And then there was a gust of wind. I didn't expect it and wasn't able to hold the umbrella with just one hand, so it slipped out of my hand. We confusedly stopped kissing when we felt the rain come down on us, immediately leaving me soaking wet. Then we started laughing at the sight of the poor umbrella lying on the ground at the other side of the road.

We looked back at each other, silently deciding whether we should go find shelter from the storm or whether we should continue our kiss. Without saying a word we both decided to go for the second option. We were both already soaked anyways. So we kissed again, this time even more passionately, while I felt the cold rain running down my face and getting into my clothes. But I didn't even feel the cold, because feeling both his hands on my waist set my body on fire.