Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

It was two years later when Jess Mariano appeared back in Stars Hollow to visit his uncle. They hadn't seen each other in a while, and Jess was getting a little bit homesick—though Jess would never admit it.

He walked into Luke's diner and noticed a familiar brown-haired girl sitting at one of the tables silently reading, a book in her hand and a baby in a carrier on the table while Luke walked around and served people.

"Hey, uh, Jess," Luke said, noticing his nephew standing with his stuff on his back.

Rory Gilmore's head snapped up from her book to see her ex-boyfriend, good friend, and the reason she had written her book, standing at the door, staring at her.

"Hey," Jess replied, not sure whether he was speaking to the girl whom he had been in love with since he had moved to Stars Hollow, or his uncle.

Luke looked between the his nephew and step-daughter just staring at each other.

Yeah, totally not over that, Luke thought sarcastically, remembering the last words that Jess had said to him last time he was in town.

The customers had also noticed the (sexual) tension in the diner. Most of the town was still the same gossip-y people they had always been, obsessed with relationships and who was with whom. Luke noticed this and took Jess by the shoulders, leading him outside.

"So, bud, have you check into the Inn, yet?" Luke asked.

"Nah, no," Jess answered, shaking his head. "Lorelai wouldn't let me check in, since it was only noon." Luke chuckled at his wife's antics. "Couldn't really expect anything less of Lorelai Gilmore, Inn Owner."

"No, no you couldn't."

"How…um…how is she?"

"You two haven't kept up?" Luke was surprised. As far as he had known, Jess and Rory had always kept up, even through their busy lives.

"You look surprised," Jess noticed.

"Well, I just didn't expect you to ask. I expected you to be, well, informed."

Jess shrugged one shoulder. It's not like they hadn't talked…it had just been a few weeks…or six months.

"Lives get busy, especially hers." Jess nodded to the one-year-old baby girl in the black carrier back in the diner that Rory was now trying to calm down. "People don't keep in touch for a while."

"Well, you'll get to catch up now, anyway."

Luke couldn't say he wasn't nervous. Jess around Rory was always a dangerous situation, one that Lorelai was rarely comfortable with.

"Yep," Jess said.

They stood in awkward silence until Luke remembered he had to get back to serving people.

"I'll call Lorelai and see if she'll let you check-in early. You know, you're welcome on the couch," he said.

"With Rory sleeping down the hall and Lorelai upstairs?" Jess questioned. Luke nodded to the side once. "Exactly."

"Well, come to the house when you're unpacked at the Inn and settled from the trip to New York."

"Will do." Jess turned around and started back towards his car, but stopped, taking one last look at Rory. "You never answered how she was."

"Tired" was all that Luke said.

"Babies will do that to you."

Jess finally turned his back to the girl he would see at Luke and Lorelai's house for dinner in five hours. He drove away from the town towards Lorelai and Suki's Inn, for the second time that day, hoping that Lorelai would let him check in and relax now that he had seen Luke.

Lorelai looked up from the check-out book when she heard the Inn's door open. She stopped when she saw Jess with his stuff again.

"Jess, I told you not until three," she said.

"Luke called you. Can I please check in? I'm tired and I'd like a nap before dinner," Jess said.

Lorelai sighed. Luke had called her and told her to let Jess check-in…and that Rory and Jess had noticed each other.

"Fine. Our only clean, available room right now is upstairs and the first door on the right. Take a shower, a nap, and I'll see you at the house for dinner."

Jess took the room key from his aunt's hand.

"Nice to see you too, Lorelai," Jess said, and went upstairs.

Lorelai watched her nephew go up the stairs to take a nap. Jess looked tired from his drive from Philadelphia. But the main thing she was worried about was the face-to-face encounter that he and her daughter had earlier.

Jess didn't scare her as much as he used to. Now there was really nothing to be scared of because he and Rory didn't seem to want to get back together.

Besides, Rory had a kid with a guy that Jess hated. Even if Rory and him wanted to be together, she didn't think they would. Jess hated Logan and that would cause huge problems when Logan would come to visit Rory and Madeline.

Logan had wanted to be involved in Madeline's life from the moment Rory had told him. Logan's wife hated the fact that Logan had cheated on her their entire engagement and gotten another girl pregnant, but ultimately, she figured that if something like that had happened to her, she'd want the father to be in their child's life, too. Logan flew to the U.S. every chance he could to see his little girl, even throughout Rory's pregnancy.

Lorelai calmed down a little at the thought of Logan. Logan still loved Rory, and Rory obviously still had feelings for Logan, despite her declarations that she didn't. If Logan was around a lot then Jess wouldn't want to be with Rory. She knew that feeling happy about that thought was awful, because Rory should be happy, no matter who she's with.

"If you think he's the great love of your life…" Lorelai had once told Rory.

No.

No, she wouldn't think anymore of her nephew and daughter's relationship—friendship, romance or none at all. It would give her more bad feelings and she didn't want that right now.

"Jess check-in?" Suki asked, coming out from the kitchen.

"Yep," Lorelai said.

"How long's he staying?"

"A few days, maybe a week."

"He's not a bad guy, Lorelai. It's okay to like the kid."

"I do like him."

"No you don't," Michelle said, walking past the front desk to grab a snack from the kitchen.

"I do, I just don't like the drama he caused with Rory."

"Well he's not here long enough to stir up any trouble. Don't get your panties in a twist," Suki said. "He coming over for dinner tonight?"

"And the rest of the week," Lorelai added.

"Lorelai, it's not like anything will happen between him and Rory. Rory's too focused on Maddie and it's not like Jess will want anything to do with Logan."

Lorelai nodded and went back to checking the book, but kept her ear slightly tilted towards the stairs in case anything happened with Jess before dinner.

Aaah, feels so glad to be back and writing again! Sorry for the hiatus! I feel like Jess is Rory's Luke, so that's what this story is about. I hope you guys liked the first chapter and I can't wait for you to read the rest!