Chapter 1

It didn't really bother Jess that he had to work a Sunday at the diner. Downstairs was preferable to upstairs for as long as the construction work was going on in the apartment, and he had been treated to a reasonably long conversation with Rory before she was whisked away by The Jolly Green Giant for a day of soda pops and first-base make outs.

Once lunch was over, the place quietened down to practically nothing and no-one anyway. Jess could get away with hiding in the corner with a book for the most part, which was usually a preference. He was only called to action when Luke insisted he stand behind the counter whilst he went out for an hour, and even then, with no-one to serve, Jess was free to continue reading.

The bell over the door got his attention, but he didn't actually look up until he got to the bottom of the page. He got a real surprise when he saw who was stood waiting for him.

"Paris. Huh," he said, putting the marker in his book and shoving it in his back pocket. "You really so desperate to fight with me about literature you came all the way back to Stars Hollow again today?" he checked. "Or is it the lure of my uncle's mac and cheese that has you in thrall?"

"You're hilarious," she told him, completely dead-pan, "did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Not really."

"There's a reason why."

Jess smirked at that. He had learnt pretty fast last night that although Paris was cracked for not appreciating the Beats, she did have a sickle wit and was as whip fast with the comebacks as Rory could boast. She started out being an annoying chaperone to his night at Casa Gilmore, and ended up as someone he could think of as an equal in a lot of ways. She was best described as interesting, Jess thought, he couldn't do better than that.

"So, why are you really here?" he asked then. "'Cause if you're looking for Rory..."

"I'm not," Paris told him easily. "I know she's spending the entire day with the boyfriend. I actually came here with a proposition for you."

"And I'm probably not interested," he said with an overdone smile, turning to walk away.

Jess got precisely two steps before Paris' next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"It has to do with Rory," she said, noting his sudden stop with a smile he saw when he turned back. "Oh, look, I suddenly have your attention."

"Is there gonna be a point to any of this any time soon?" asked Jess as he returned to where Paris had now hopped up onto a stool.

Checking left and right to ensure nobody was listening in, she leaned across the counter towards him and gestured him a little closer. Jess was starting to wonder if this was a professional hit or at least some kind of warning to back off from their mutual friend. He wouldn't listen, but it might be amusing to hear.

"You like Rory," said Paris easily. "I know it, you know it, Dean sure as hell knows it. Rory, she's playing dumb, but we both know that's not really her style," she summarised quickly, before taking a deep breath. "So, here's the deal; you want to be with Rory and I'm pretty sure she feels the same, but good, safe, puppy dog Dean keeps her from doing anything about this little triangle situation you all find yourself in."

"And?" Jess prompted when she didn't immediately continue. "What? Super-Paris is going to fix everything? How do you plan on doing that?"

"Using the only emotion more powerful than love and loyalty," she told him frankly. "Jealousy."

Jess couldn't help but look intrigued. This conversation had sure taken a turn he never could have expected, and rightly or wrongly, he was interested to hear more.

"Right now you're too available, too easy to string along," Paris continued, though he noticed she wasn't quite looking him in the eye anymore, "but if you were dating someone else, well, then Rory would have to act fast or miss out."

"And in this scenario I'd be dating, who?" he asked, already pretty sure the answer ought to be clear. "You?" he tried when she didn't seem willing to say so.

Paris squirmed, and it was almost too entertaining.

"We wouldn't really be dating," she said sharply, "it'd just be for show. A clever ruse to make Rory see what she's missing out on," she explained, eyes mostly on the her own hands fidgeting on the counter and voice rising a little too high. "It's what you want, right?"

It was true and Jess couldn't find a way to deny it that Paris would ever believe. If she hadn't known before that something was there between him and Rory, she had been at the house last night, so it was pretty darn obvious to her now. It amused and intrigued him that Paris seemed to think he could make Rory happier than Dean did. That certainly wasn't the opinion of others, namely Lorelai. Clearly Paris was as smart as everybody said.

"Let's say you're right," he said then, not giving an inch. "What I don't get is why you want to do this for me."

"I'm not doing it for you," she snapped, rolling her eyes for good measure. "Not just for you anyway. Rory deserves to be in the relationship that she wants. As much as she bugs me a not small part of the time, she's a decent person and she always comes through for me in the end. She's been a real friend and I want her to be happy. I actually think you would make her happy, and so, the plan," she explained.

Jess' eyes narrowed as he stared at her. Paris hadn't come off like the nervous type either time he spent time with her before. She was opinionated, book smart, and unafraid in the face of a good verbal spar, and yet right now she was unravelling. Guys made her nervous, or perhaps not so much the guys themselves as the idea of dating them, even by way of a ruse. It wasn't as if she really liked him, Jess wasn't so fat-headed as to presume that, though it might be entertaining if it were true.

"And all you get out of this is Rory's happiness?" he checked, leaning towards her over the counter. "Nothing else?"

Paris huffed a sigh.

"I don't object to your company," she admitted, "or to the fact that having a boyfriend, even a fake one, would improve my social standing amongst my peers."

Jess smiled. The straight up honesty was refreshing at least, and the plan Paris had cooked up wasn't half bad. He didn't really see what he had to lose.

"So, you're gonna use me and I'm gonna use you?"

"Does that bother you?"

"Nope."

"Good." Paris nodded once, then held out her hand to Jess. "Then we have a deal?"

Jess took that offered hand and shook it.

"We have a deal."