Do You See Her Face? (A Jess Mariano Fanfiction)

A Thousand Beach Boys Songs

Disclaimer: All Gilmore Girls content belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino.

. . .

The sun was high and bright in the Philadelphia sky, beating down on the concrete of the city, when Ella finally awoke at half past nine to the sound of a siren outside. Early August had brought a heat wave to the East coast, and the hot air always rose to the top floor of Truncheon. They were sleeping only under a thin blanket, and Ella had found she had thrown it off herself at some point in the night. Or perhaps Jess had. He was a light sleeper, often had bad dreams, tossing and turning. But his side of the bed was empty, with a sticky note left on the pillow in his place. She furrowed her brows; it was Saturday, the beginning of her last two weeks before classes and office hours started, and she didn't know of him having any plans. Stifling a yawn, she picked up the note and squinted at it in the harsh sunlight streaming through the window.

Morning Daria,

Went to get coffee. Be back soon. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

-James Dean

In spite of the roll of her eyes, Ella snickered before rising out of bed. She pulled a mauve cotton dress over her head, tying her hair into a low bun. Padding on bare feet into the living room, she smiled as she noticed Chris was up, pouring himself some cereal at the tiled island. Matthew had stayed over at some woman's house, though he wouldn't tell them her name. Ella went to the corner of the living room and put a Joni Mitchell record on. Then, she hopped on a stool across from Chris.

"Where's your boy toy?" Chris asked through a mouthful of cereal, his hair sticking up in all directions.

She snorted a laugh. "Getting coffee. He left me a note."

"Adorable," he deadpanned.

"Mm. Sickening, isn't he?" Ella asked, mocking fondly.

Chris nodded, then tilted his head over in the direction of the record player. "Really? Joni Mitchell?"

"She's a genius. Choose your next words carefully," she warned.

"Isn't she just a little...too sweet?" he asked.

Ella scoffed. "No one who likes disco as much as you do should be allowed to criticize a Renaissance woman like Joni Mitchell."

"Disco is the best," Chris said casually. "And Joni Mitchell is the worst."

"Ugh, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Ella groaned, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I had this girlfriend last year who hated Joni Mitchell. It was, like, half the reason we broke up."

Chris's eyebrows shot up in an expression of surprise as a smile broke out on his face. "Girlfriend?"

She nodded. "You're looking at your resident bisexual."

"Yes! You've got to come to Pride with us in September! Jess and Matthew came last year, and they're great, but, they're also both so very straight," he said, laughing slightly.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Ella allowed her own grin to appear. She'd never been to a pride parade before, though she had always wanted to. Eventually, Lane, Zach, and Bryan had figured out she was dating a woman for a couple months during her third year of college. And they'd taken it surprisingly well. Lane wasn't completely sold on the idea, but Ella wasn't shocked, given the strict Christian Kim upbringing. They didn't kick her out, didn't speak to her hatefully, only shrugged (with a few lingering, confused looks from Lane) and went about their day. And so they had been added to the list of four people in the whole world who knew about her sexuality, though she'd never actually told them her label. Jess was the only one who knew the details of who she was.