𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙨 ➳ 𝘫.𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰 [EDITING]

𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯

THE BROOKS GIRL arrived at the independence inn, feeling anxiety bubble in the pit of her stomach at the prospect of seeing jess. playing with her sleeves nervously, she walked inside seeing rory talking to paris whom she has had the displeasure of meeting briefly before.

the girl heard paris speaking as she approached the two. "i just have to let nanny know." she said before walking off and talking on the phone in spanish making the blonde laugh under her breath.

"paris is staying huh?" lillie asked the young gilmore, quirking an eyebrow.

"now she is." rory laughed, "surprised you came."

"well you know i'd rather be anywhere than home alone with my mom. by the way she wanted me to tell lorelai she's sick." lillie said and rory nodded, before she saw dean approaching them along with his little sister.

"hey." he said to rory. "hi lil."

"deano." she nodded making him let out a small laugh.

"hey clara." rory smiled at the young forester. "nice, is that a stella mccartney?" she joked gesturing to the girl's dress.

"it's a wal-mart."

"well it's very pretty."

"my mom bought it for tonight."

"you'll have to let me borrow it sometime." lillie chimed in with a laugh.

dean looked to the door grimacing when he saw a certain boy walk in, "didn't know he was coming."

this made lillie look up to see who he was talking about, her eyes immediately meeting jess' making her blush instantly and look anywhere else. rory noticed this, a smirk on her face as she saw how her friend was acting.

"i, uhm- gotta, i gotta- yeah." she struggled to think of an excuse, stammering before quickly leaving the lobby of the inn, hearing her best friend giggle as she did and dean asking what was going on.

•·················☆·················•

a while later, everyone was asked to meet back in the lobby, lillie choosing to hide in the back corner with rory. she used her hair to cover her face as she saw the boy she was avoiding looking around the lobby. rory laughed at her, seeing jess look over at the two, sending him a wave in turn earning a glare from the blonde.

lorelai suddenly spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "hey everybody! will you gather round? everyone, everyone! first of all, i want to welcome you to the first annual and probably never ever to be held again because sookie's on the verge of a nervous breakdown bracebridge dinner."

"i also want to thank mother nature for showing in the trelling paper company in chicago so i can throw this great party for all my friends instead. it's a very special night. and so, since i don't get to eat unbelievably strange food with my friends everyday, i have arranged a little surprise. outside, as we speak, is a line of horse drawn sleighs and everybody gets a ride. so, uh, line up and keep it orderly. there's two per sleigh and no cutting in front of each other- that goes for everyone. except me, 'cause i'll be damned if I'm gonna miss a ride in a horse drawn sleigh. come on." she says, before the crowd disperses, everyone heading outside to get a sleigh. lillie didn't move.

"he's not looking, lil." rory said with a laugh. "will you tell me what's going on?"

said girl tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, revealing her bright pink cheeks as she looked up, not seeing the boy. "nothing." she shrugged simply causing rory to roll her eyes going to say something before her friend cut her off. "oh look, dean's waiting. see you at the dinner." she said quickly, not meeting rory's glare before she walked away quickly, heading out to where the sleighs were.

lillie hopped in a sleigh sighing in relief as she pulls the blanket provided over her legs. "that it miss?" the driver asks and she nods in response.

"yup, i'm going solo." she smiles contently, feeling weight off her shoulders as she doesn't have to worry about avoiding anyone. the sleigh starts moving, lillie looking up at the night sky before someone jumps in next to her making her jump out of her skin. "jesus christ!" she yelped placing her hand over her heart, looking in shock at the boy next to her.

"i heard it was two to a sleigh- no more, no less. you were breaking the rules." jess shrugged, taking half the blanket to put over his legs.

"i-" her words got caught in her throat, causing a lump to form as she struggled to say anything. "you could've hurt yourself" the girl frowned, looking at jess properly for the first time in over a week. she missed him. she missed his stupid smirk and his stupid hair and his stupid brown eyes that made lillie's heart beat faster.

"i live on the edge. i can jump out if you want?" he offered, she immediately shook her head.

"no, no. it's fine." she said, pulling the blanket closer to her as she shivered. "figured you wouldn't come to this thing."

"mm well there's this girl i wanted to see." jess replied making her blush brightly, as she tried to shake off the comment.

she pursed her lips before speaking again. "figured you wouldn't be staying in stars hollow either."

"trust me, i don't particularly want to be here."

"then why are you here?"

"my mom didn't want me to go home." he answered, a frown taking over the girl's face.

"did luke tell you that?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

he shook his head, frowning too. "he didn't have to. i know my mom."

she could see he was trying to act like he didn't care about it, but she knew, no matter how used to it you get, it still hurts the same. she hesistantly, reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers. "jess..i meant it when i said you're not completely unwanted here. i'm..really happy you're here." she repeated her words from the night of the kiss.

a scoff escaped his lips, "could've fooled me."

"jess.." she frowned, turning to him completely.

"you've been avoiding me." he noted and she nodded in silent admission. "why?"

she sighed, looking at their intertwined hands that rested on her thigh, making it easier to talk when she wasn't looking at the boy directly. "we kissed." she saw him nod in the corner of her eye before she went to talk again. "i-i just needed time to think about..how i feel."

"and?" the question made her finally look up at him with confusion in her eyes. "how do you feel?"

she felt her heart speed up slightly at the question, looking at the boy, finally talking to him, it was clearer now how she felt about him. "it was..nice."

"yeah?" a smirk found it's way onto his lips.

she nodded, smiling slightly in return. "yeah. i uh..missed you."

"that's your own fault."

"i was confused."

"was?" he asked, moving closer to her, squeezing her hand making her shiver. "so not anymore?"

"i guess not." she shrugged, her smirk matching his as he leaned in closer. his forehead rested on hers, their faces now inches apart. "jess.."

"yeah?" he responded. all of a sudden he felt her lips on his. butterflies flooded the girl's stomach as she felt two hands cup her face, pulling her closer. her hands finding their way into his hair, as she smiled into the kiss. she could definitely get used to this.