Swan Song Alternative

“Damn, you should win an academy award for that performance in there,” Rory
said squeezing Jess’s hand as they walked out to his car.

“Oh, yeah?” he smiled back and kissed her softly. “How about my OTHER
performances?”

Rory blushed. “I don’t think they give awards for that kind of stuff.”

“Huh!” he snorted.

“But they should! And if they did, I’m sure you’d get one,” she teased.

Jess opened the car door for Rory. “Ma’am? Your chariot awaits,” he said
gallantly.

“Why thank you, kind sirory ory mimicked back.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Rory scooted over to sit right along side
of Jess. He put his arm around her shoulders and she nuzzled up to him,
kissing his cheek.

“Thanks for tonight,” Rory said sweetly.

“The night’s not over yet,” Jess said with a smirk. Rory blushed.

They pulled into the Gilmore driveway. Rory didn’t realize that the situation
she was putting herself into was exactly the one her mother had warned her
about, because she was so elated about how well the dinner went and the talk
about college.

“So, are you coming in, I hope?” Rory asked tentatively.

“Sure, sounds good,” Jess answered as they got out of the car and headed into
the house. Jess carried Rory’s book bag and she had her uniform from school.

“Um, I’m going to put this stuff in my room,” she motioned to the clothes and
took the bag from him. She set the book bag down on her desk and draped her
uniform over the chair. She then felt Jess’s presence in the room. When she
turned around, he was right in front of her.

“God! Don’t do that! You scared me to death!” Rory shrieked.

“Geesh, it’s not like you didn’t know I was in the house, Rory,” Jess smirked.

“Yeah, but…” Rory didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Jess was
kissing her. They moved over to her bed and both partially lay down on it.
Rory broke away to catch her breath. “Jess….”

“I know, I know, you set the limits,” Jess knew what was coming. “But your mom
is in New York and Luke is staying over Nicole’s, so we can be as comfortable
as we want to be,” Jess said confidently.

“Good,” Rory said defiantly, running her hand over his chest. He was right,
there wasn’t any time pressure, so she shouldn’t be so timid. She still didn’t
know what she wanted, how far she was ready to go. And being alone like this,
if things got out of hand, geesh, anything or EVERYTHING could happen. She
felt all tingly when she was with him. This scared her, she didn’t trust her
own body around Jess, it seemed to get a mind of its own. She thought that her
mom would think that statement was funny, until she realized that NO, her mom
would NOT think that her body having its own mind would be very funny.

“So, which college do you really WANT to go to, Umass or So Conn?” she asked,
trying to change the subject and get more information about this newfound
college news.

“So Conn has a better creative writing program,” Jess said between kisses as he
kissed along her neck. He had already figured out that trying to get a Gilmore
to stop talking was a waste of time, even when they were kissing, so he might
as well go along with it.

Rory was so filled with happiness. Jess was really turning his life around,
and was doing whatever it would take to be with her. He was so great, she felt
like the luckiest person in the world. And his kisses felt so good, everything
felt so right.

They continued kissing, getting more and more passionate. Rory was filled with
her strong feelings for Jess. Her mind was reeling. She let her guard down
and impulsively ran her hand along his chest and downward until it rested on
his crotch. Jess immediately jumped at the motion, surprised by her audacity.
“Rory!”

“Hmm?” she responded, giving his a sly smile. “I just want to show my
appreciation for all you did for me tonight,” she whispered, giviim
im
staccato kisses along his neck.

“But Rory,” he sighed. “I’m not doing any of this just to get you to do things
that you might not be ready for,” he said reluctantly taking her hand off his
now aroused area. He wanted her to be ready because SHE is ready, not o
ho
him a ‘favor’.

“But…” she pleaded.

“Look, I already told you, I think we should take it slow. I know that’s
probably the last thing you think you’d ever hear from me, but Rory…. You know
I’m not a virgin. And believe me, you don’t want to lose your virginity the
way I did. It should be special. And momentous. With music and candles and
flowers and all that sappy crap they have in those movies….”

“Stop, Jess, I get it,” Rory interrupted, looking irritaby tby throwing her
arms up in defeat. She was surprised that he was the one to slow things down,
she had a little nagging fear deep down that he would get bored with her if she
didn’t start going further with him. And then she had touched him, aroused him
- at least she’s pretty sure she did, but he had pushed her away. Ouch! Did
that mean he didn’t want her? She started to feel very self-conscious and
pulled away. Jess wt sut sure why she was acting so strange, so he drew her
back into a hug. That usually calmed her down when she was starting to rant.

“Rory, come on, let’s get comfortable and we can just read together for a
while, okay?” he said tenderly. Rory got up and pulled a t-shirt and
sweatpants out of her dresser for both herself and for him. She went into the
bathroom to change and Jess changed in her room.

When Rory came back in, Jess was sitting propped up by pillows but under the
comforter on the bed reading Rory’s copy of “xx”. He lifted the comforter up
and patted the spot next to him. She smiled and she grabbed a book out of her
book bag and got under the covers with Jess. He put his arm around her,
enveloping her in the comforter as she snuggled into him, resting her head on
his chest.

“Mmm,” she commented and he stopped reading long enough to kiss her hair and
give her a squeeze with the arm he had around her. She looked up at him.
“Jess?”

“Hmm?” he asked, almost like a hum into her hair.

“Will you sleep with me tonight? Oh god! No! I mean, not SLEEP sleep, but
spend the night here with me? I mean…” she asked, quickly clarifying her
request. Jess chucked at her restatement and kissed her to quiet her.

“Rory, yes, I want to stay the night here with you, no funny business, I get
it,” he chuckled. “I’ve got to open the diner tomorrow for Luke, so I have to
leave really early, so you have to promise not to freak out if you wake up and
I’m not here, it just means I went to work and didn’t want to wake you, okay?”
he reassured her.

“Okay,” she kissed him softly. “So, sleep now or more reading?” she asked
playfully.

“Let me just finish this chapter,” he said with a wink. n wen we can go to
bed.” He smiled inwardly at that comment. Never in a million years did he
think he would be saying that to Rory.

Rory got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face and ready herself for
bed. She brushed her hair and took off her bra, but kept her t-shirt and
sweatpants on. She looked at herself in the mirror, wondering if she would be
a different person the next time she saw her reflection. She studied herself
for a moment, then shook off the thought. **That’s just crazy, I’ll still be
the same person, no matter what** she thought to herself. When she came out,
Jess did the same. “Jess, I put a new toothbrush out for you,” she commented
as they passed each other.

Jess turned the living room and kitchen lights out. When he reentered her
room, she was snuggled up in bed, the only light lit was the bedside lamp.

“Uh, Rory?” Jess asked meekly.

“Huh?” she opened her eyes.

“I, um, sleep in my boxers, is that alright?” his eyes bored into hers. When
he looked at her like that, he knew that she couldn’t say know to him. It was
the same when she gave her puppy dog eyes and pout to Jess - he just couldn’t
resist her when she did that.

“Oh, well, um, sure, that’s okay with me,” she said, although she didn’t sound
like she meant it.

He took off his watch and placed it on the nightstand, then pulled off his
t-shirt, aware that Rory was watching with wide-eyes. She couldn’t help it,
she saw that his body was so beautiful. Jess knew she’d be embarrassed if he
knew she was studying him, but couldn’t help but smile. He turned to face her
before unlatching his belt and unzipping his jeans. She watched him and he
slowly pulled them down, exposing his sinewy legs. She drank in every inch of
him, blushing feverishly, but still staring. He smirked which caused her to
look away briefly as he climbed into the bed with her. He wrapped his arms
around her and smoothed her hair behind her ear. “Goodnight, Rory,” he said
gently and kissed her sweetly.

“Goodnight, Jess,” she answered and sighed as he let go of his embrace and
rolled over to shut off the light. He was really going to go to sleep! Rory
had already decided that she was not going to be able to sleep with him right
there.

Rory woke up and peeked over Jess to see that it was 2:30 am. She hesitated,
looking at his peaceful face as he slept. He is so beautiful, she thought.
She ran her fingertip lightly over his cheek and he stirred with a little moan.
She ran her hand across his back very lightly and he let out another little
moan, but still did not awaken. Touching Jess lit her body on fire. She
desperately wanted him to wake up, she wanted to kiss him, to touch him. She
wanted HIM to touch her. It was driving her crazy. **How can he sleep when
we’re like this?** she screamed to herself. She almost had to laugh, she
remembered reading in Lane’s secret issue of Cosmo that some women like to have
sex in the early hours of the morning and aren’t as frisky at night when most
men are. **Maybe that’s why I never had any interest in having sex with Dean,
since we would never have done anything like this?** crossed her mind. **No,
that’s not possible**, she disagreed with herself. She knew that it was
because it was Jess, not the hour of the day. **Argh, why am I having this
argument with myself at this hour when I should be sleeping?** she thought.
She was practically breaking out into a sweat. “Ugh,” she said quietly, and
pulled her shirt off. **That’ll give him a nice surprise when he wakes up,
maybe he won’t leave** she thought mischievously. She laid back down, covering
herself in the covers and rolled over so her back was facing Jess’s back and
drifted off to sleep.