#so i thought ayintl robbed us off literati content we deserved

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

The wedding was perfect and nothing like Rory had imagined for her mother. The first wedding that she had planned was supposed to take place in late August, the second on June 3rd, but sadly both weddings got called off. Lorelai's mother had said that she had always imagined a Russian winter themed wedding for Lorelai which Lorelai said was really out of her character, but Emily and Rory couldn't disagree more. Lorelai was infamous for her love of snow. When Lorelai did finally tie a knot with Rory's father it was in Paris and none of their family members were there. The marriage didn't last very long.

The date of this wedding- the one where Lorelai finally ties a knot with the love of her life and Rory's stepfather Luke- was November 5th. Rory had never imagined Lorelai getting married in fall. Granted, this wasn't their official wedding with their extended families and the entire town there to witness it. This was a small, intimate, impromtu wedding, which made it even more perfect. Lorelai wasn't wearing her wedding dress, she chose a dark blue lace dress instead. And Rory was still in her PJs since they literally dragged her out of bed late at night saying: "We're getting married now." Michel was there by Rory's side as Lorelai's bridesmaid, well-groomed and wearing a suit as always and Luke's best men were Rory's best friend Lane and Luke's nephew Jess.

Of course they had woken up Jess. Jess had to be at Luke's wedding. Luke was pretty much his only family while he was growing up. He took him under his roof and gave him the guidance and structure he didn't know he needed. They had their ups and downs while Jess was still a brooding angsty teenager, but now that he had grown up, they were best friends, just like Lorelai and Rory. It came as no surprise that Luke had called Jess up in a middle of the night, saying he's getting married and wants him there and Jess had put on a tux he had saved for his actual wedding the next day and went to the gazebo.

"You may kissed the bride," the reverrend said and the four of them cheered. Jess and Rory's eyes suddenly met. He still had that James Dean spark in them, the spark that had drawn her to him when they were young. Jess's lips curled into a smile. He was just as charming as fifteen years ago. Rory looked away, hoping that the dim lighting would mask her blush. Luckily, nobody was paying attention to her. This was her mother's big day. All eyes were in her.

It was a beautiful night. Even Michel looked happy, which was very uncharacteristic of him. Reflecting Light, by Sam Philips was the song Luke and Lorelai chose for their first dance. It was an unusual pick but it had significance for them. They both remember that this was the song that was playing when they first danced together at another wedding.

Everyone was having fun for the rest of the night. Lane was a DJ, Michel was making everyone laugh with his weird dance moves and Lorelai and Luke were dancing like there's no tomorrow. Despite all this, Rory couldn't help but feel kind of wistful. Of course she was happy for her mom and Luke, but seeing them together also made her feel alone. She looked around and realized everyone there had someone. Her mom had Luke. Lane had Zach. Michel also had a husband. Who did she have?

"Hi."

She turned around. It was Jess.

"Hey."

"Shall we dance?"

Rory was surprised by this question. She didn't know Jess could dance. They had never danced together.

"Come on, Rory. I want to make up for the prom."

He offered her his hand and this time, she took it.

The song that was playing was Girl from Mars by Ash, except it was some kind of slow version that was good for slow dancing. Jess put his hand around her waist and lead her to the dance floor. Rory put her left hand on his sturdy and muscular arm. They danced. Kind of awkwardly at first, but it got better as the song went on.

"I never imagined going to prom in my PJs," Rory joked.

"Life is full of surprises. I never imagined your mom and Luke being at our prom, but here we are."

"I kind of did. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had decided that we needed a chapperone."

They both laughed and blushed at the same time. Jess knew exactly what she was talking about. They really couldn't be left alone for more than ten minutes when they were young.

"So, on scale Carrie to My Fat Greek Wedding 2, how do you rate this prom?" asked Jess.

"Mean Girls," said Rory with a shy smile.

"That wasn't a prom, that was a Spring fling dance," argued Jess.

"Wow, someone seems to know a lot about chick flicks," teased Rory.

"What do you think I was doing when Luke called me here? Watching Almost Famous, what else."

"Again?"

"Well, I can't help it, I'm addicted!"

"I thought you had grown out of that by now."

"Well, old habits die hard."

The song ended. Another song, something by Yoko Ono, which Jess definitely wasn't a fan of, played.

"Hey, wanna get out of here?"

"What? Why would I want to get out of here? This is my mom's big day."

That brought a painful memory back. Jess suddenly remembered his mother's big day (there were several, actually, but this was the last one and therefore the biggest one) and how he had snuck away from her wedding to go see Rory at Yale and ask her to run away with him. It wasn't exactly his proudest moment.

He supressed the painful memory and shrugged with a devil-may-care smile.

"It's Yoko Ono. I mean, come on, who wants to listen to Yoko Ono?"

"Lane does and if she does, then I want too. She's my music guru."

"You do know she broke the Beatles up right?"

"Beatles are overrated and they would've broken up anyway at some point."

"You're kidding."

"No, that's what Lane says."

"Okay, well if you change your mind, I'll be at the gas station."

Rory stood in the middle of the dance floor and watched him walk away. She felt stupid dancing by herself, so she walked off the dance floor and wandered around the bushes with little twinkle lights in them for a while. Kirk did a really good job decorating. But while it was all really pretty, there wasn't much to do, so she chose to follow Jess to the gas station.

While she was walking there the song changed to Then She Appeared by XTC, one of Lane's favorite bands.

She found him there, fiddling with a cigarette in his hands.

"I can't believe you still smoke," she said.

"I'm telling ya, old habits die hard."

"Don't you find it a little irresponsible to light this right next to a gasoline?"

"Maybe I'm not going to light it."

"Oh, so you're just going to put it in your mouth unlit because: 'It's a metaphor?'"

Jess laughed: "Maybe, I'm not going to smoke it at all."

"Oh. And what is that decision depending on?"

"What's gonna happen."

"When?"

"Now."

Suddenly, Rory had a déjà vu. Fourteen years ago, after her interview with a Yale dean she and her mom had stopped by at Luke's. She and Jess had just started dating and her mom and Luke werent very supportive, so they used their lame kid code to sneak away to the gas station and made out. It was kind of their first date. Who knew a date at a gas station could be so romantic?

His dark brown eyes locked with her bright blue ones. He put his hands around her slim waist and she placed hers on his shoulders. They locked lips in the most passionate kiss Rory has had for a very long time. Just a few months before Rory asked Jess in the middle of a rant about everything that went wrong in her life: "Passion? Is that really a thing?" Now she knew it is. And this was it.

"Wow," she gasped after they pulled away, "you were right, old habits really do die hard."

"Yeah. You're glad I didn't smoke that, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she laughed.

Jess put his cigarette back into his pocket and kissed her again. They made out for a while in the dim light of twinkle lights in the background with Then She Appeared playing in the background. Then Jess broke the kiss and said: "Well, that part still works."

"After everything that's happened between us," she added, with a smile.